








CORRECTIONS 


Page 107, table of contents, ‘‘Cause of Floods in the Ohio 
Valley,’’ for ‘‘135”’ read ‘‘184.”’ In the same way for each 
succeeding topic to ‘‘Summary of Damage to Soil’’ the pages 
pUeC mene iota a. ions 1408140 "149275 149)? 
144", °'144”" and ‘‘145’’ respectively. 

Page 111, 8th line from the bottom, for ‘‘4’’ read ‘‘5’’. 

Page 123, end of first paragraph, add ‘‘page 168”’. 

Page 142, 14th line from the bottom, for ‘‘15’’ read ‘‘14”’. 

Page 145; Ist line, for *‘3”’ read ‘‘4”’. 

Opposite page 168, add‘‘chart No. 6’’ to the chart: 

Page 1738, in jasc paragraph, after ‘‘C’’ in the 12th line 
from the bottom add ‘‘page-115.”’ 

Opposite page 174, on the chart, for ‘‘7’’ read ‘‘8”’. 

Opposite page 176, on the chart, for ‘‘8’’ read ‘‘9’’ and for 
Gee reads. 4. 

Pagpe.1738;16th-line irom bottom tor “*2’’ read ‘‘3’’ 

Page 179, Ist and 22nd lines for *‘2’’ read ‘‘3’’. 

Page 150) last line;for’°3”’ read “*4’’. 

Page 181, 2nd lnefrom ine bottom, for ‘‘4’’ read ‘‘5.”’ 

Page 182, 3d and 6th hnes from the bottom, for **5’’ read 
Sad oh 
Page 184, last line, for ‘‘Martin’’ read ‘‘ Morgan.”’ 

Page 189, last lime, for “*3”’ read. °'4”’. 
Page 192, cancel ‘‘ (See figure 47.)”’ 














VV) —_ 


f 


STATE 
GEOLO 

GICAL SURVRy 
INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 














No. 22 BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA Ocroser, 1914 


Pretatory Note 


It was realized that a thorough study of the flood of March, 
1913, was necessary in order to determine the actual conditions 
and the consequences of it. The matter was called to the attention 
of the President of the University and an appropriation of $150.00 
was made for the purpose, as a part of the Public Service Work of 
the institution. | 

Mr. Hal P. Bybee was placed in charge of a party consisting 
of Mr. Clyde A. Malott and Mr. Thomas F. Jackson. Mr. Jackson 
left the party at Worthington, on account of illness, and Mr. W. 
R. Allen took his place. On account of their accessibility, the two 
forks of White River were chosen for study. As soon as physical 
conditions would permit, the party took the field and the work was ' 
carried on under the most trying conditions. 

The report which follows is the joint collaboration of Mr. 
Bybee and Mr. Malott, and forms the first accurate record of a 
great flood in the area studied, together with a discussion of the \ 
actual conditions found, and the precautionary measures that may 
be taken. 

J. W. BEEDE, 
Associate Professor of Geology. 


(105) 


ESE CEE for piper an in the INDIANA Gateiesue STuDIES. 


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Table of Contents 


PART I.—IntTRoDuUcTION— PAGE 


EN oll nvoamea ate Haan htop ote Bee, Vale iy: Fok Meee nat, i eo eae ee ck 109 
eee OOUL ATCA Ate aoe Aw oar c MON, hil goin) bee eats Cama 1Gml 
reTrer alam We Glo SOT CALIF pon tele chaise Nits SA0ts ahd & vie chet. Se Yeo epee 118 
erica RUCLUITe Ors | NOTATA gaa -e rete racine jie, bp hie ipa « US teres de a as 117 
Pirate PERANTEAU ORY LICE Tul Velen ack sigs qe. cte tema se ea eae stag 123 
Eee Ore aot Cal COU ONS tay, & atte ede ce itt ae NS ee Sera ite ais 125 
eres Ob OOS il tie © NOs alley su. scu cee Gtowe ne & eee tek ene. 135 


PART II.—OssErRvatTIons— 
Damage to Soil: 


CNY ae Ne ea ORE GOST OM ene, el one baer Wee Aim gms SS oho ha es etait 138 
Cla eee Pee aE CCS Naty OR At AA nth a cian’ aceite eee eps BMRA 139 
Meno ct Onn Giis and anc Cr re Vel rey otc eed ake tec cis wareha lon emrhs 141 

NESE DUT OL Ole ll ere nee ei cahs Sais oA Pin air (OF da dea Sky ee woes oe 141 
Isat ee ean Ort ereliore been. oR gic vin nce wet cae Uae tee wens 143 
IetleGL ime rece Onepanmk, OuLting so... (ue. es Gs ee we eke en ee 148 
Ente CMO bY CER One JeTIOS be oun witenle Eeablet ase og ee eee a ee 145 
Ge ie OM le Lose a elOUe OhOSLON. af. eee e< wad wifes keihin co givens ete pe 3s 145 
RUN By eOle A CO ILO nO) ba Meg tknc. oe 2 a ahiculey oes Ban is Shee + 146 
Pere One ii re bits Attn CUES etn rs oe rye Oh atcha e wawalela ek kane dys 149 
et Eh ROT CULL eee eee rae eRe cee Reise 9.0%, vss 7 Se sone ales Se Re ecuhionn Aes 175 
Metiden idecsditesvOseuxcecs1 vey Lainialhy oo. i fa.5 nat fees nats eae oe 189 
Shortening the Course of Bean Blossom Creek..+.......5...50+.0805- 189 
meconstructional- Measures and, Their Cost. 2.02. ....2 206.6 ce ese dds 190 
The Relation between the Flood and Sickness......................- 200 
The Flood of 1875, compared with the Recent March Flood.......... 202 

PART III.—F.Loop QuEsTions— 

iG OES OAT OLIN ei LE a os A Vee a 205 
mesimowerlnc Olina Water Fable: cc. sae pa. + hone Oye ob fae ee oo aes 210 
Control of Floods in China, Japan and Korea....... 10.2.6. 00.00. 0s 214 
eM OOUstmerd FONLOr ese hy Olle. cag. Geils enkig whats «sors 0 daty tee «ok «- 216 
Leer eee eee Peni AY Sch, aly INS Doce aad Oise neh aie be wad ak & 220 


(107) 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2021 with funding from 
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/floodof1913inlowO00bybe 


The Flood of 1913 in the Lower White River 
Region of Indiana 


By HAUL PS ByBEE, A.M. AND CLYDE A. MALOTT;..A. B: 


PART I. INTRODUCTION 





ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


THe recent March flood in the Ohio Valley brought such 
disaster and ruin upon the people within its scope that it will be 
long remembered, and will be used as a guage for floods of the 
future, whether of this particular region or elsewhere in the Mis- 
sissippi Valley. Realizing this, the Department of Geology of 
Indiana University sent out an expedition as a part of the Public 
Service work of the University, to study the effects of the flood along 
the West Fork of White River. The field work was done mainly by 
the writers, each of whom traversed a bank of the stream, carefully 
noting the conditions under which any damage was done. Much aid: 
was given by Mr. Thomas F. Jackson, a graduate student in the 
Department of Geology, who took charge of the boat and noted 
changes that took place in inaccessible places. To Mr. Jackson, 
eredit is due for preparing the photographs. The writers are in- 
debted to Dr. J. W. Beede for his valuabie suggestions and general 
supervision of the work. Dr. E. R. Cumings has given much valu- 
able criticism and has aided the writers greatly by his suggestions. 
The photographs of the region below the junction of the two White 
Rivers were contributed by Mr. Harry W. Morrison, county sur- 
veyor and engineer of Gibson County. 

It was almost three weeks after the crest of the flood had 
passed before the flood plain was dry enough to permit the work 
to be undertaken. On April 19, the party started at Waverly, 
near where the river enters Morgan County. Some three weeks 
were required to traverse the river valley through Morgan, Owen, 
Greene, and between Knox and Daviess counties, to the junction 
with the East Fork of the White River. At Worth'ngton, in 
Greene County, Mr. Jackson was succeeded by Mr. W. Raymond 
Allen, a graduate student of the Department of Zodlogy of Indiana 
University. 


(109) 


110 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


After the party had traversed the West Fork from Waverly 
to the junction with the East Fork, a distance of about 200 miles 
by the river, it was found that the funds which were furnished 
for the expedition by the University were sufficient to cover the 
expenses of an investigation of a considerable portion of the East 
Fork of White River. Accordingly, the equipment was shipped 
to Brownstown, near the middle of Jackson County. Two weeks 
were consumed in the investigation of the East Fork from Browns- 
town through one-half of Jackson, Lawrence, and part of Martin 
Counties to Shoals, making a distance of about 110 miles along 
the East Fork. Thus, five weeks were spent on the expedition, 
and about 310 miles of river bottom traversed. 

Since a flood of the magnitude of the recent one does not 
occur more than once or twice in a generation, it was not known 
just what was to be found or what were the most important phases 
of the situation. In a very short time, however, the following 
things revealed their need of consideration: 


1. Effect of bridges, both highway and railroad, upon the 
height of the water. 

2. Railroad grades and public road grades. 

3. Bank cutting, amount, causes and prevention. 

4. Deposits of sand, silt and gravel. 

5. Removal of the top soil. 

6. Cutting of holes, causes, and prevention. 

7. Effects of meanders. , 
8. Levees, their good points and their bad points. 

9. Effect on the future crops, and the destruction of wheat 
and corn. é 

10. Damage to cities, towns, and villages, and to farm im- 
provements. 


Valuable aid was given by the farmers along the river bottom 
in the consideration of the above items. As far as possible each 
farmer was questioned about the March flood and his opinion 
procured as to damage. Since soil was the main physical loss 
to the valley land, farmers were questioned on every possible occasion 
as to their ideas of the damage to future crops on account of the 
removal of the top soil. The effect of grades, both of public roads 
and railroads, was discussed with those affected. 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 Dit 


LAcK oF Goop BasE Maps 


One of the most serious handicaps that was encountered in 
doing the work in a first-class manner was the lack of a good base 
map with which to work. The soil and county maps that were 
available were far from being accurate in geographic detail; and 
thus it was almost impossible to note the lesser changes made by 
the high water. It is the little changes that are taking place from 
year to year, that in the end make the greatest change, or lead 
up to some marked change in the course of a stream. ‘There are 
several places where as much as three acres are lost each year. It 
was not uncommon for as much as forty acres to have been lost in 
the short time of ten years. This is the case at the first bend in the 
river after it turns south at Spencer. Again in twenty-seven years, 
twenty acres have been lost from the John Duke farm, between 
Worthington and Bloomfield. These changes and hundreds of 
others are taking place all the time and in a few years make a con- 
siderable change in river channel. Without the aid of topographic 
maps it is impossible to note these changes. 

If a complete topographic map of the White River bottom 
were available, a study of the situation could be made and the 
advisability of a system of levees for any part of the river bottom 
could be worked out. As it is, nothing but an expensive survey 
of the entire bottom will show the advisability of such a system. 
When such a survey was finished, there would be nothing that 
could be used later for any other specific purpose; while the same 
amount of money with a little more added to it would make a per- 
manent topographic map that could be used in making a complete 
study of the entire situation. With such a map having a ten foot 
contour interval, the geology and physical features of the river 
valley could be worked out. The advisability of making cut-offs, 
thus shortening the stream, and even the approximate cost of 
such work could then be determined. For instance, at Bloomfield, 
just below the Illinois Central Railroad, the river makes a long 
loop to the south, as seen in Chart No. 4. At the southern end of 
the loop a new channel less than a third of a mile in length would 
shorten the course of the river over a mile. With a good base 
map to work from, the position of the proposed cut-off could 
be determined at a place where there would be the least possible 
bank cutting and the most land reclaimed by such a cut-off. <A 
close study of a topographic map would furnish an engineering 
corps with sufficient data to work from. That is, they would 


1 ee INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


know what they were to find and the easiest and least expensive 
manner of procedure. 

The Mississippi River Commission started its work by hay- 
ing made a large scale contour map of the entire lower course of 
the Mississippi River. With this base map to work from, other 
surveys have been made, and the entire lower course of the Mis- 
sissippi River has been brought under almost complete control. 
Not only could the topographic maps be used in the study of the 
flood situation, but they could be used in the study of the im- 
provement of the public roads in the unglaciated part of the State. 
By looking at the contour map of the Bloomington Quadrangle, 
it will be seen that the roads are built on the section lines, in a 
good many instances making the road so hilly as to prevent the 
marketing of the crops, and making heavy hauling almost impos- 
sible. These roads could be built around hills of excessive steep- 
ness and height, in many cases, where they are now built on the 
section line directly over the hill. Also the location of road metal 
quarries could be made in the best possible location with respect 
to applying the metal to the road. 

The possibilities of storing the excess flood waters in the lake 
region of the northern part of the State for irrigation and power 
purposes could be worked out in a definite manner by the aid of 
adequate topographic base maps. 

It would be well to place topographic maps in the public 
schools, for social as well as physical problems may be studied 
by their use. An example of the social problems that may be 
studied by the aid of the contour map is found in the following 
question: ‘Can the people that live on the part of the river valley 
that is frequently overflowed move to higher locations?’ Or, 
‘Are they a poorer class of people that are not financially able to 
make such a move? Are they renters or do they own their own 
homes? Could these low lying districts be turned into public 
parks which would not be seriously damaged by the overflow of the 
stream ?’ 

The estimated damage to soil on the part of the White River 
bottom traversed was something near $250,000. ‘The cost of making 
a map of a fifteen minute quadrangle varies from $1,350 to $5,750, 
according to the nature of the topography, or from $6 to $25 per 
square mile. At the lesser figure, the entire drainage area of both 
forks of White River could be mapped for $75,000. Putting the 
cost at $2,500 for each quadrangle, the entire drainage of both 
forks of White River could be mapped for $182,000, or about one- 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 113 


half the estimated loss to soil in the recent flood. For the estimated 
loss of soil, the whole State could be mapped. About fifteen 
fifteen-minute quadrangles would cover the greater part of the 
valley land on both forks of White River and would cost less than 
one-third of the estimated damage to soil in the recent flood. These 
figures are possibly too high, for the relief in Indiana is not very 
pronounced, especially in the glaciated part of the State. 


GENERAL LAWS OF A STREAM 


In the work of water, as it is emphasized along any stream 
from a mere rivulet to a great river, a few principal laws come 
under consideration which are applied to any particular stream. 
Since these laws are fundamental, a few pages are here devoted 
to a consideration of them. 

‘EKivery river appears to consist of a main trunk, fed from a 
variety of branches, each running in a valley proportional to its 
size, and all of them together forming a system of valleys com- 
municating with one another, and having such a nice adjustment 
to their declivities that none of them join the principal valley 
either at too high or too low a level, a circumstance which would 
be infinitely improbable if each of these valleys were not the work 
of the stream flowing in them.’ (John Playfair, ‘Huttonian Theory 
of the Earth.’) . 

Streams are one of the most important agencies that give 
form and expression to the surface of the earth; they are the prin- 
cipal factors in fashioning the details of the various topographic 
forms that strike the eye of the every-day observer. Streams cut 
into the plains, making valleys and hills suited to the size of the 
streams and proportioned to the general elevation of the former 
plain above the mouths of the main streams. 

Every one is aware that streams carry sediment, and espe- 
cially after rains during high water. When one considers that 
streams, ever and ever, are carrying sediment, he soon is able to 
grasp the idea how streams are able to carve the surface of the 
earth as they do. During each high water millions and millions 
of tons of sediment are carried to the ocean. Nearly every one 
has noticed that during the short summer shower a considerable 
gully may be made on a hill side, that started from a little rill in 
the mark of a harrow tooth. The soil thus removed, however, may 
be at the foot of the same hill. In fact the soil from the source 
of a stream may make many stops before it finally reaches the ocean. 


114 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


It may lay in the form of alluvial material for centuries before it 
is removed to its final resting place in the ocean. A summary 
of the denudational processes in the United States is given in 
‘Water Supply Paper No. 234,’ by Dole and Stabler. The last 
paragraph is as follows: 

The estimates reveal that the surface of the United States is being re- 
moved at the rate of thirteen ten-thousandths of an inch per year, or one inch 
in 760 years. Though this amount seems trivial, when spread over the surface 
of the country, it becomes stupendous when considered as a whole, for over 
270,000,000 tons of dissolved matter and 513,000,000 tons of suspended matter 
are transported to tide water every year by the rivers of the United States. 
This total of 783,000,000 tons represents more than 350,000,000 cubic yards 
of rock substance, or 610,000,000 cubic yards of surface soil. If this erosive 
action had been concentrated upon the Isthmus of Panama at the time of 
American occupation, it would have excavated the prism for an eighty-five 
foot sea level canal in about seventy-three days. 


It has been shown by Humphreys and Abbott that the Missis- 
sippi River alone transports enough sediment to tide-water in 
one year to build up a tract of swamp land 268 square miles in 
area one foot in depth. There has been no consistent effort to- 
ward using this enormous quantity of sediment that the rivers of 
the United States carry to the ocean, and as a result all of this good 
soil is lost. In the case of the Mississippi River, the sediment 
might be used to build up some of the vast areas of swamp land 
along its lower course, so that something besides malaria might be 
produced where the swamps now are. 

The manner in which material is acquired by running water, 
the way in which it is carried, the effect it has on the bottom and 
sides of a stream, and how it modifies the flood plain in times of 
flood can be ascertained by the careful study of a single stream. 
We think, ordinarily, that the function of a stream is to carry away 
the stupendous amount of flood water and the general run-off, 
while in reality its purpose is that of leveling. Salisbury says 
the purpose of a stream is to carry the lithosphere into the hy- 
drosphere. The term ‘leveling’ may seem contradictory to the 
previous statement that streams make hills and valleys; but leveling 
is their function in that they reduce, very slowly to be sure, the land 
to sea level, or approaching it. They etch their way into the plains 
and cut them into hills and valleys and these hills are in turn worn 
to a base level. No one person can live long enough to see the life 
history of any one stream completed, but the physiographer sees 
many examples of streams representing all stages between youth 
and old age. He may see stages in which the stream has all of its 


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PROFILE: WEST FORH OF WHITE RIVER 





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PROLPI LE LAsl (ORK OF WHITE iI VER 


DIAGRAM No. I. 


Figures along the tops of the two diagrams, A to B, are fall in river from one town to the next 
one mentioned, 

Figures along the bottoms of diagrams, C to D, represent distance in miles from one town to the 
next one mentioned. 

Figures at right end of curve show elevation of river at Winchester and New Castle above 
sea level. 











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OTIS 
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116 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


work before it; that is, there is still a great amount of upland. 
The streams in this case are small, usually straight, swift, heavily 
loaded with sediment, and characterized by falls and rapids. <A 
stream with these characteristics is termed a young stream. He may 
see stages in which the work is half completed; that is, in maturity, 
in which the plain is so cut up that it is all ridges and valleys. 
He may see stages in which the work is almost finished; that is, 
in old age, in which the valleys are wide; the streams have many 
meanders; a few monadnocks rise above the general relief; and the 
stream is sluggish, and is building up its lower course instead of 
lowering it. These, in a few words, are the charactertistics of 
streams in the three stages of youth, maturity and old age. 

If the general leveling of the land is the function of a stream, 
then we must next see how and in what manner it does this. As 
the rain falls it beats on the ground and gathers particles of soil; 
then, uniting into small rivulets, flows away in response to the 
force of gravity. These little rills, turbid with sediment held in 
suspension, unite into brooks, and these in turn combine to form 
larger streams, which are also turbid. The particles held in sus- 
pension have a tendency to fall to the bottom, but are kept up 
by the various upward currents that are to be found in flowing 
water, due to the unevenness of the bed of the streams, or to rocks 
or other debris on the bottom. The sediment may rest on the bot- 
tom for a time, but it will be gathered up and carried on down stream 
and will finally arrive at its resting place in the ocean. 

Not only is the sediment gathered up by the little rills, but 
the main stream is constantly widening and often deepening its 
channel. This process also furnishes another source for the der- 
ivation of sediment. For instance, the Mississippi River car- 
ries into the Gulf more sediment than the tributaries bring into 
the main stream. (Dole and Stabler, ‘Water Supply Paper, 234.’) 

The ability of a stream to carry sediment depends upon the 
velocity, the volume, the nature of the material to be carried, and 
the presence of upward and cross currents. Any one who has 
observed a stream knows that the velocity is not continuously 
the same, and that the velocity is less at the sides than at the middle, 
and less on the bottom than on the surface. The thread of swiftest 
flow is ordinarily in the center of the stream and about one-third 
of the distance from the surface to the bottom. (I. C. Russell, 
‘Rivers of North America.’) The bottom of the current is held 
back by the friction on the bed, and the surface by the friction of 
the air. If the stream is heavily loaded, the highest per cent of 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 Ure 


sediment is found where the current is less—that is, near the bot- 
tom, surface, and sides of the stream. 

Another class of debris that is carried by a stream in times 
of flood includes tree trunks, logs, rails, bridge planks, boards, 
telephone poles, and everything that will float or that can be held 
up by the current. These things cause much damage in that they 
have a tendency to form a dam whenever they may become lodged. 
In this way many bridges are washed away. The road west of 
Martinsville was damaged to a great extent by the cross currents 
set up by the debris catching on the wire fence on the north side of 
the road and forming a dam. L. C. Glenn, in‘ Professional Paper 
No. 72, U.S. G. 8,’ cites many illustrations of mills and power 
plants having been destroyed by floating debris becoming lodged 
against them and finally forcing them from their foundations. 


GEOLOGIC STRUCTURE OF INDIANA 


Since the drainage of both forks of White River is closely 
associated with the geological structure, a brief discussion will be 
given at this time. The geologic history of the State is embraced 
by the Paleozoic times. The geological scale for Indiana is as fol- 
lows: 


( { Merom sandstone 

| Pennsylvanian...... { Coal measures 

| | Mansfield sandstone. 
| 


Mitchell limestone 

Oolitic limestone (Salem) 
Harrodsburg limestone 
Knobstone sandstone and shales 
Goniatite limestone. 


| Chester sandstone and limestone 
| 


Paleozoic..... { New Albany black shale 
Sellersburg limestone 
Silver Creek limestone 
Jeffersonville limestone 


| Mississippian....... 


Daevonialteases pee oe 


Waterline 
Niagara limestone 
Clinton limestone. 


etd qhig Beha ie NC ete, eke 


an 


Richmond limestone and shales 
Lorraine limestone and shales 
Eden shales and limestones 
Trenton limestone. 


Ordovician. see. 





118 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


The geologic history of Indiana begins with an old sea which 
gradually retreated to the southwest as the region to the northeast 
was raised. The general dip of the rocks is to the southwest, at 
the rate of twenty to thirty feet to the mile. In some places the 
dip is much more, at times, being as much as a hundred feet to the 
mile. Beginning with the Ordovician formations which are the 
oldest rocks found in Indiana, the other formations are exposed 
as one goes from east to west across the State, until the Merom 
sandstone is reached at the extreme western part of the State. 
In each case, the older passes under the younger, and each is ex- 
posed at the surface for a distance dependent upon the thickness 
of the formation and the amount of stream erosion. 


Ordovician. The Ordovician rocks are the oldest rocks ex- 
posed in Indiana. They consist of a series of hardened clays and 
thin bedded limestones, commonly designated as the Cincinnati 
group. This region includes a strip from fifteen to twenty-five 
miles in width extending from the Ohio River northward to the 
northern part of Wayne County. The entire territory is drained 
by Whitewater River, and other streams that flow into the Ohio 
River. Since shales are easily eroded, the relief is rather pro- 
nounced, being as much as four hundred feet. The limestones of 
the region are very thin, rarely more than a few inches in thickness, 
thus affording very little protection to the shales. The region 
in general is one of the physiographic divisions of the State and 
may be called the Eastern Highland, the elevation above the sea 
being from 700 to 1,200 feet. 


Silurian. The Clinton and the Niagara limestones of Silurian 
age succeed the Ordovician rocks. They are the surface rocks 
along the Ohio River, extending in a narrow strip northward through 
the eastern part of Clark County, the middle of Jefferson County, 
the eastern part of Jennings County, thence with the western limit 
near Greensburg and Rushville, northwest past Noblesville, as 
indicated on Chart No. 1. From Rushville south the outcrop 
will average fifteen miles in width, except at the extreme southern 
part. The Clinton limestone, which is basal Silurian in Indiana, 
is a rather thin bed, varying from a few inches to about seven feet 
in thickness. The Niagara group, which overlies the Clinton 
limestone, is composed of several divisions of limestone and shales, 
aggregating in all about one hundred and twenty-five feet, in the 
southern part of the State. To the north where the Niagara passes 
under the glacial drift, it reaches a thickness of four hundred 
feet. The topography of the Niagara limestone outcrop is rather 















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Fie. 3. Hole where a haystack had been. In the background, a crew replacing the grade that was 
washed out on the east side of B. & O. bridge across White River, three and a half miles south of Bedford. 





Fic. 4. A hole washed out at Summers ditch crossing, west side. Size of hole, 100 feet wide by 300 feet 
long by 30 feet deep. 


120 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


rough, the steep slopes being the result of the predominating lime- 
stones, and is somewhat in contrast to the rounded hills of the 
Eastern Highland of southeastern Indiana. The general slope 
is to the west. The eastern rim of the Clinton and the Niagara 
is the dividing line between the White River and Whitewater River 
systems. The streams flow southwest down the dip of the rocks 
and the Niagara is exposed in the bed of the streams for several 
miles to the west of the general outcrop. 


Devonian. The Devonian rocks succeéd the Silurian, and may 
be grouped into two main divisions, the lower being limestones 
and the upper soft shales. The most important limestone is the 
Corniferious, or Jeffersonville, which is a rather hard bluish gray 
limestone, the combined strata averaging about sixty-five feet in 
thickness. To the north it seems to be partly replaced by the 
Geneva, a buff or brownish colored magnesian limestone. Above 
the Jeffersonville limestone, are two thin beds of limestone known 
as the Silver Creek and the Sellersburg. These outcrop in the 
extreme northern part of the region. On top of these limestones 
occur the New Albany Black Shales, which will average 125 feet 
in thickness. These shales are sulphurous and contain so much 
bitumen that they will burn when thrown on a fire. Weathering 
takes place very rapidly in these shales and as a result the region 
is worn down almost to base level. This region about New Albany, 
Scottsburg, Seymour, Columbus, and Franklin averages about 
10 to 15 miles in width, and is known as the Eastern Lowland. 
It is from 500 to 700 feet above the sea. The East Fork of White 
River flows southward through this trough for many miles to Rock- 
ford in Jackson County, where it turns to the southwest, and flows 
through a gorge in the succeeding formations. 


Mississippian. The Mississippian strata, in Indiana, occupy 
the middle portion of the southern half of the State, and next to 
the Pennsylvanian, are the most important rocks in the State. 
The Mississippian in Indiana is divided into six divisions, which 
aggregate over a thousand feet in thickness. These divisions will 
be treated in the order in which they occur, beginning with the Goni- 
atite limestone, which is the oldest. The Goniatite limestone is 
unimportant, but is remarkable in its consistency in underlying 
the whole Mississippian system. It is generally less than six feet 
in thickness. The Knobstone group is composed of shale at the 
bottom, while near the middle are massive dark blue calcareous 
and clayey sandstones, and near the top is a light brownish sand- 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 1A 


stone intercalated with shaley layers. The Knobstone is between 
400 and 600 feet in thickness. The area of outcrop is from twenty- 
five to thirty miles in width and extends from the Ohio River north- 
ward through Floyd County, western Clark, eastern Washington, 
western Scott, nearly the whole of Jackson, Brown, Morgan, Hen- 
dricks, and Montgomery Counties, passing under the glacial drift 
in Benton County. The topography of this region is the most 
rugged of any in the State. The Knobstone rocks absorb water 
readily, but being impervious, transmit it very poorly, so that these 
rocks are readily shattered by freezing and thawing. The region 
is weathered and eroded into steep-sided valleys, the bottoms of 
which are from 200 to 400 feet below the general level of the land. 
The topography of Brown County is a good example of these steep- 
sided valleys. Since the elevation of the region is from 700 to 
1,100 feet above the sea, it is known as the Central Highland. 
The courses of both forks of White River are to the southwest 
directly across the Knobstone region. ‘The valleys are from two 
to five miles in width and are bordered on either side by abrupt, 
bluish bluffs, ranging from 150 to 250 feet in height. Typical 
bluffs of this kind are to be found on the West Fork above Martins- 
ville and on the East Fork at Brownstown and Sparksville. 

The Harrodsburg limestone which overlies the Knobstone, 
is a coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous, hard, blue stone from 35 to 
100 feet in thickness. Its outcrop is between a quarter of a mile 
and three miles in width. The topography is very similar to that 
of the succeeding formations. 

The Salem limestone overlies the Harrodsburg limestone. 
It is a massive, oolitic, buff to bluish, fossiliferous imestone, known 
over the United States as one of the best building stones. The 
softness of the freshly quarried rock makes it very easily worked, 
and upon exposure to the air it gets hard and durable. The thick- 
ness of the Oolitic limestone varies from a few feet up to 90 feet. 

The Mitchell limestone is a hard, fine grained fossiliferous, blue 
stone, having a thickness ranging from a few feet up to, possibly, 
250 feet. This limestone is easily soluble and is pitted over its en- 
tire outcrop with sinks. The region of its outcrop is largely drained 
by underground channels. It is in this formation that some of the 
largest caves of the world are found. Some of the noted caves 
found in the Mitchell limestone are Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, 
and Wyandotte and Marengo Caves of Crawford County, Indiana. 
Lost River in Orange County is a typical underground stream for 
thirteen miles of its length. Green River, Kentucky, drains Mam- 


2—1424 


12) INDIANA’ UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


moth Cave and is another example of the solubility of the Mitchell 
limestone. The Harrodsburg, Oolitic or Salem, and the Mitchell 
limestones are shown in Chart No. 1 as one formation. Through 
this limestone region both forks of White River narrow down to 
about a quarter of a mile in width. ‘This narrowing of the valley 
in passing from the region of soft shales and sandstones to the hard 
limestones had remarkable effect on the flood conditions, as will 
be mentioned in another place. 

The last division of the Mississippian is the Chester. This 
consists of a series of thin limestone, shales and sandstones, aggre- 
gating 190 feet in thickness. There are three thin limestones with 
sandstone and shales between. 


Coal Measures. The Mansfield sandstone is a massive, 
coarse-grained sandstone and is the basal member of the coal mea- 
sures in this State. On top of the Mansfield Sandstone is a series 
of shales, sandstones, coal seams, fire clays, and limestones. The 
shales make up the greater part of the coal measures. The Merom 
sandstone hes next above the coal measures. Mr. J. F. Newsom 
in the ‘26th Annual Report of the State Geologist,’ says: ‘Lying 
above the productive coal measures and separated from them by 
an unconformity is a sandstone with a thickness at Vincennes of 
from 40 to 50 feet. This sandstone has been known as the Merom 
sandstone, owing to its good exposures at the town of Merom. 
In general appearance it resembles the Mansfield sandstone, for 
which it has sometimes been mistaken. Whether it is of carbon- 
iferous, or later, age has not been satisfactorily determined.’ 

It is interesting to note that the size of the valley depends 
on the material through which the river flows. Above Gosport, 
on the West Fork, the river flows through the Knobstone region, 
which is composed of shales and thin bedded sandstones. ‘These 
shales are easily eroded and as a result the valley is wide; being 
one to three miles in width. As the Limestone region is reached 
below Gosport, the valley narrows to between a quarter and three- 
quarters of a mile, until it leaves the Mansfield sandstone below 
Bloomfield, where it again widens even more than above Gosport. 
The same conditions are present on the East Fork. At Sparks- 
ville the wide valley narrows to a mile or less as it leaves the Knob- 
stone region and enters the limestone area, and continues very 
narrow until it leaves the Mansfield sandstone at Shoals. Thus 
there is a remarkable constriction in the valleys of both forks where 
they flow through the limestone rocks and the more resistant Mans- 
field sandstone. It may be stated that House Rock and Jug Rock, 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 1230 


at Shoals, are in the Mansfield sandstone. As the valley becomes 
narrow, the depth of the water is increased and the amount of 
damage per acre is increased. At Romona, on the West Fork, 
the valley is about a quarter of a mile in width, and as a result 
the water during the flood was about thirty feet in depth on the 
valley, and the entire valley was swept clean (Fig. 1). 


DRAINAGE AREA OF WHITE RIVER 


Both forks of White River rise near the highest point in the 
State, which is in Randolph County. This elevation is about 
1,285 feet above sea level. The Mississinewa and the Whitewater 
Rivers also have their sources in this county. The East Fork 
rises in the very southwest corner of the county. : 

The West Fork flows in a westerly direction through iitincis. 
and Anderson, to Noblesville, then almost due south to Indianapolis. 
From Indianapolis it takes a direct southwesterly course to Peters- 
burg. The West Fork flows through the Wisconsin glacial drift 
from its source to Martinsville, a distance of 125 miles, and in the 
Illinois glacial drift from Martinsville to the forks, a distance of 
180 miles by the river. 

The East Fork flows in a tortuous, winding manner, thus 
increasing its length and decreasing its fall by numerous meanders. 
The East Fork flows through the Wisconsin glacial drift from its 
source to Columbus, about 155 miles. Then in the Illinois drift 
from Columbus to Brownstown, a distance of 40 miles. From 
Brownstown it flows through the unglaciated part of the State 
for about 90 miles, and the last 40 miles are again in the Illinois 
glacial drift. 

The writers have measured the drainage area of White River 
with a planimeter on a large scale map. (‘Geologic Map of In- 
diana,’ compiled by T. C. Hopkins, 1901-1903.) The areas were 
measured four times, with the following average results: 


pveeetel orkiGie White: River... etisaes. 2 ce. oo 5,340 square miles. 
fabenork Ob, White Rivers oe. ie) ae eG 5,980 square miles. 
White River between the forks and Wabash..... 175 square miles. 


Seas LAINACCSATO a 75 > Taher e oo tee, 11,095 square miles. 


ie! INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


TABLE No. 1—Profile of the West Fork of White River. 











Die Distance Feet of Fall per mile be- 
STATIONS. tance from Elevation. Fall bet- tween Stations, 
Apart. Nobles- ween Sta- in Feet. 
ville. tions. 
Noblesville...... 0 0 741 0 0.0 
Indianapolis..... 34 34 675 66 1.9 
Martinsville. .... 43 ae 600 75 Leg 
SpeNnceraces a eae 38 115 540 60 1.6 
Worthington..... 32 147 506 34 1.06 
Newberry....... 38 185 476 30 0.8 
Edwardsport..... 29 214 445 31 16 
Washington...... 25 239 419 26 1.0 
JUNCtION. 2 sees i 17 256 400 19 1.10 
IV oUt Tig sek aot ee 50 306 376 24 0.45 

















Profile of East Fork. 




















Dis- Distance Fall Fall per Mile 
STATIONS. | tanee | from Mor- |Elevation.| Between Between 
Apart. ristown. Stations. Stations. 
Morristown...... | 0 0 741 0 0.0 
Hainbursie sso ead 50 625 116 23 
Columpuste.cnn 21 71 602 23 tae 
ROcKOrd ee ee | 25 96 556 46 1.8 
Medora..........| 30 126 505 51 1.7 
Riverdale... 40 166 AT9 26 0.65 
phoglewe. see | 50 216 450 29 0.58 
Junphioue ec en | 38 274 400 50 0.86 
Nouth* teen | 50 324 376 24 0.45 

















1W.M. Tucker, Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, 1910. The last two columns 
were added by the writers. 


A study of the two profile tables shows a noticeably high fall at 
the source of the two streams, which rapidly decreases until Columbus 
is reached on the East Fork, and Noblesville on the West Fork. 
(Diagram No. 1 shows this very well.) The fall above Noblesville 
is between three and four feet to the mile. On the East Fork 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 12h 


the fall between Rivervale and Medora becomes as low as eight 
inches to the mile and between Rivervale and Shoals as low as 
seven inches to the mile. On the West Fork there is only one 
place where the fall goes below a foot to the mile, and that is between 
Worthington and Newberry, where the fall is a little less than ten 
inches to the mile. 


METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS 


Conditions for March 23-27, inclusive. There is nothing,to 
be found in a study of the weather maps of the period preceding 
the heavy rains that would indicate such conditions as caused the 
downpour that followed. The ‘low’ on Sunday night, March 23, 
1913, overlaid southeastern Nebraska. On that day there were 
heavy rains from central [Illinois to Western Ohio, over a strip of 
country probably 200 miles wide and 500 miles long, the focus of 
the heavy rains being in northeastern Indiana and northwestern 
Ohio. 

Rain fell uninterruptedly over the above territory, Sunday 
night March 23. The amount of precipitation, however, was not 
so great as on the following day. In Illinois, on March 24, rain 
ceased, but the intensity over southern Indiana and southern Ohio 
increased and was greater than on the previous day. Here an 
important thing is to be noted: On March 23, the heaviest rainfall 
was on the head waters of the Wabash, White River, and the rivers 
of Ohio that flow into the Ohio River from the north; and on March 
24, the heaviest rainfall had shifted to the lower parts of these 
rivers. This is a reversal of the ordinary conditions; for the ordi- 
nary storm moves from the lower part of these streams to the upper 
portions of their drainage areas, thus giving the water that first 
falls a chance to run away before the rainfall of the second period 
reaches it. 

Monday night, March 24-25, brought a continuation of the 
rain over Illinois, Indiana, and northern Ohio. The same belt of 
heavy rain extended along the lower part of the Great Lakes down 
the St. Lawrence valley, into northern New England. As on 
the day before, the area of heaviest precipitation was in central 
Indiana and in central and northern Ohio during the daylight 
hours of March 25. It was the rainfall of this day, Tuesday, March 
25, with its average of 4.46 inches of rain at sixteen out of the twenty 
stations in the White River drainage area, that sent the streams 
of central Indiana on their mission of unprecedented destruction. 

2 Monthly Weather Review, March, 1913. 


126 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


The position of the ‘highs’ and the ‘lows’ during the period of 
March 23-27, is responsible for the continuation of the excessive 
downpour in the Ohio Valley. As nearly as possible, the following 
is the succession of events that caused the continuous downpour: 
In advance of the first storm, that formed on the 22nd and centered 
in the lake district on the morning of the 24th, a great bank of 
high pressure moved across the United States and settled in and 
over the Bermudas, remaining there until the 27th. Thus while 
the second storm was pushing eastward on the 24th, an area of high 
pressure existed off the Atlantic coast, and another area of high 
pressure existed north of the Great Lakes, and was spreading 
eastward. On the evening of March 24th, the two areas of high 
pressure were separated only by a long narrow trough extending 
northeast by southwest across the Ohio Valley. This trough con- 
nected the receding storm with the approaching one, making al- 
most continuous rainfall. On the morning of March 25th, the 
trough extended from Texas to New England, with centers over 
Arkansas and the Ohio Valley. The high pressure in the Canadian 
region and in the Bermudas kept the area of low pressure over the 
Ohio Valley from moving on to the eastward. On the 26th the south- 
ern portion of the trough moved to the eastward and settled over 
North Carolina. When the southern portion of the trough passed 
over the drainage areas of the streams that flow into the Ohio 
River from the south, the latter were also caused to assume flood 
stages, thus making doubly sure the resultant destructive flood 
stages on the Ohio River. On the 27th the high pressure over 
the Bermudas gave away and the area of high pressure in Canada 
moved over the Atlantic Ocean, thus permitting the areas of low 
pressure to move on into the Atlantic ocean, relieving the flood- 
stricken Ohio Valley. 

Thus the two storms passed across the Ohio Valley so close 
together that the rain areas of the two blended, and the second 
storm was held back by the two ‘highs,’ concentrating the rain- 
fall for two successive days in the same place, while the southern 
portion of the trough moved across the southern tributaries of the 
Ohio, flooding them at the same time. At no time in the history of 
the Ohio Valley had so much rain fallen in a 72-hour period as 
fell last March 23-27. In many local areas, as large an amount 
of rain has fallen in an equal length of time, but never has there been 
such a heavy rainfall over so large an area in so short a time. 

Again it is of special interest that no low temperatures existed 
immediately before, during or after this period of flood. At xo 












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Cuart No. 2. Showing drainage basins of the two forks of White River and the rainfall 
at weather stations. 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 Rear) 


place in the Ohio Valley was the ground frozen, nor was there any 
ice or snow stored away in any part of the basin to aid in causing 
flood conditions. 

In Indiana there had been enough rain previous to the down- 
pour to saturate the ground to such an extent that there was no 
room left for the absorption of the surplus water; and it is hardly 
possible that the small amount of water absorbed, even if there 
had been no rain for some time before the downpour, would have 
made much difference in the height of the flood. A complete 
history of the meteorology of these storms, with charts and tables, 
will be found in the publications of the United States Weather 
Bureau. The above is based on the information taken from these 
publications. 





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STUDIES 





INDIANA UNIVERSITY 





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BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1 0 VEY 129 


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TABLE No. 2A—Summary of Rainfall Upon White Rwer Drainage Basin for 
the Month of March, 19138. 



































Precipitation | Precipitation Total Departure |Greatest Fall 
for March, for March, | Precipitation from the in Twenty- 
1-22. 23-27. for March. Normal. four Hours. 
West Fork— 
PATI OP SOD ens sale 3 1.32 6.99 8.50 Abe TfAll 2a25 
Bloomington... c.0 3.83 9.20 13.03 qall 6.56 
Bm INeN CO. e0. <9. 5.0. 00 Qed 5.25 co) a a eet 1.95 
_A RUT ia call C00 (ee ee 1.78 8.94 alae ai Tel 4.42 
Elickory HOleas 3 2.89 Ths Bs LOO elie rey cep ere heroes 4.39 
Indianapolis.......... 1.47 6.04 feds a}. 1a) 26 
Washington..........- 3.08 8.91 11.99 6.9 5.83 
Wihntesto whe ston. 01. 1.86 7.05 8 O32 ia een lee Ree. teen 3.07 
Worthington......:... sy: (259 10ete §.10 4.25 
East Fork— 
Butlervilles nape. 2.92 9.27 12.36 7.59 4.45 
WolumibiSwwerss os ee 2.05 9.92 12 01 8.45 7.00 
Brenchelick ss ase 3.28 6.52 HO a eee ee 4.85 
Greener sean. k.ie & feos 25 Se Sig Pray erence ae 2.56 
IM US RCAS ieee eek Spahr ae 2 42 9.65 12.08 8.45 5.59 
Nashville tc... cnc Die 8.97 Ld GO Ie tate ae 6.01 
SCcouspuUros lenteres PaPat Cale 10.04 9.36 3.41 
SOV DIOULe rere ne ain ce 2.76 8.05 10.82 6.46 5.43 
Shelby villev....s .... - 2.18 TSM O ASE Re Gale co cate ett er Dat 
RSUOCOySHIST: 8 oc aaa eA enree 4.08 9.06 UG 14S ey eee eee eesh eee ery 6.65 
Greensburg. .f......... 1.61 8.45 9.96 5.30 4.01 
Average for West Fork.... 2.54 8.36 10.92 6.93 4.85 
Avecage for East Fork.... ee 8.21 10.14 Gmlia 4.08 
Average for both Forks. . 2.43 8.28 10.53 6.55 4.46 
| 








The average rainfall for the West Fork of White River, taken at 
nine stations, for the month of March, was 10.14 inches. An aver- 
age of the amount of rain that fell at the above nine stations for 
the period commencing with March 23rd and extending through to 
March 27th, is about 80 per cent of the entire precipitation for the 
month, or 8.21 inches. At seven of the nine stations therefore, an 
average of 4.08 inches of rain fell on March 25th, or in other words, 
50 per cent of the rain that fell on and between March 28rd and 
March 27th, fell on March 25th, at seven of the nine stations. 
That is, 42 per cent of the rainfall for the month fell on March 25th. 

On the East Fork of White River there were eleven stations 
that reported to the United States Weather Bureau. During the 
five days of the flood there was an average of 8.85 inches of rain- 
fall at these stations. The average for the entire month was 10.92 
inches. Thus 76.5 per cent of the precipitation for the month fell 
during the five days of the flood. Also at nine of the stations 
an average of 4.85 inches of rain fell on March 25th, or 58 per cent of 
the rain that fell during the five days of the flood fell in one day, 
i. c., 44 per cent of the rainfall for the month fell in one day. 

Taking both drainage areas together, there was an average 
of 10.53 inches of rainfall for the month of March. During the 

















‘rq. 6. Washout near Summers ditch, Gibson County. 





Fra. 7. Deposits of fine gravel and sand. Gibson County. 





T'1g. 8. A large deposit of sand and gravel, mostly gravel. Gibson County. 








Fic. 10. Sand and gravel deposits in a cornfield. Gibson County. 





BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 133 


five days of the flood there was an average of 8.28 inches of pre- 
cipitation at the twenty stations. That is, 78 per cent of the rain 
for March fell in five days. Also an average of 4.46 inches of rain 
fell at sixteen out of the twenty stations on the 25th day of March. 
There was an equally large rainfall at the other four stations on 
March 24th. Thus 56.6 per cent of the water, that caused the flood, 
fell in one day and 42 per cent of the entire precipitation for the 
month of March fell on one day, March 25th, in White River valley. 

The general storm conditions of White River valley were 
about the same as those of the entire Ohio Valley, which have 
already been discussed. As was stated above, melting snow, ice 
jams, and frozen ground did not enter into the consideration of 
the cause of the flood, as all were absent from the conditions of 
this State. Neither was abnormal temperature present either 
-immediately before, during, or immediately after the five days of 
excessive rainfall. However, on March 25th, in the northern part 
of the State, a light fall of snow occurred, which added misery to 
all concerned in the flood stricken parts of the different cities. 
This fall of snow was due to the spreading out of the area of high 
pressure that was centered over the Great Lakes district. 

There is no question but that the flood was caused solely by 
the enormous rainfall, in the short time of five days, and the fact 
that 56 per cent of the precipitation fell within the short period of 
twenty-four hours. If the ground had been frozen, or if there had 
been floating ice to form jams, or if very cool weather had followed, 
the deluge, the damage to property and the loss of life would have 
been vastly greater. On account of the fact that none of these 
other factors acted in conjunction with the continued downpour 
of rain, and on account of the fact that the rains came in the latter 
part of March at a time when there was a minimum of growing 
crops, or crops in storage, the amount of damage was at a mini- 
mum to crops, buildings, and human life. It is difficult to tell 
whether the soil was washed as badly then as it would have been 
if the storm had occurred later in the season. The chances are 
that the soil was damaged more on account of the recent freezing 
and thawing. 

Considering everything, the damage was about as light as it 
could possibly be, with such an enormous rainfall in so short a 
time. 


134 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


CAUSES OF FLOODS IN THE OHIO VALLEY 


Floods above the danger line, in the Ohio Valley, have re- 
sulted from the following causes, acting alone, or in conjunction: 


1. Heavy rainfall over extensive areas. 


2. Rapid melting of large accumulations of snows. 
3. The formation and the breaking of ice jams. 

4. The failure of reservoirs. 

5. ‘The breaking of levees. 


The first two of these causes acting together are responsible 
for a very large percentage of the floods that occur during the first 
four months of the year. <A great number of the floods occur dur- 
ing the first four months of the year. For instance, at Paducah, 
out of the twenty-nine floods that have been above the danger line 
all have occurred during the first four months of the year. At 
Evansville, out of the eighty-six floods that were above the danger 
point, only ten occurred outside of these months; and at Cincinnati, 
only three out of forty-six occurred outside of the months of January, 
February, March and April. 

The last three of these causes generally act in conjunction 
with the first two, and in themselves seldom do any great amount 
of damage over any but a small area. The last flood was caused by 
excessive precipitation over a Jarge territory, and was not aided in 
the least by the other flood-causing factors. 





Fia. 13. Shows long rows of sycamore trees along the bank which are beneficial in keeping the bank 
from being easily washed. Below Romona, Owen County. 





Fig. 14. A typical steep bank at the outside of a meander. 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD oF 1913 Tod 


PART II.—OBSERVATIONS 


DAMAGE TO SOIL 


Soil Washing and Erosion. When the water begins to flow 
across the flood plain, sand silt and debris are deposited, their 
position being determined largely by the velocity of the current. 
In many places where the current is strongest the top soil is removed 
and in some places great holes are cut. 

The amount of cutting depends upon the velocity of the cur- 
rent, the kind of soil, and the amount and nature of the sediment 
carried in suspension. I. C. Russell, in ‘Rivers of North America,’ 
gives the following table on the transporting power of a stream: 


TABLE No. 8. 


Velocity of Current. Size of Material Moved. 
Geeee DEO RECONC sce ae [rite t ies ee eee ak Fine clay and silt. 
Girne CTSS ECONO tie Ath Ae tose cut ie gue end a eke 3 Fine sand. 
ier area ear 190 tee CONC eat cceig so Pear bie eto el S3b vs Pebbles 1% inch in diameter. 
PCE DEIBCC ONE Te se wesie nicon Nees Wiece Sg ec as gt Pebbles 1 inch in diameter. 
PRO ee DOL BECOME ie tat use eee ice Fmt yet oposite Pebbles 2 inches in diameter. 
ne toner Capa lsOOONG oy. 0 cite ie ee onfes ha St Pebbles 3 inches in diameter. 
ETP a 70y CY OC 0 lpm TTA St oe Pebbles 4 inches in diameter. 
eRe DOTOCCONC.gt pat tt cnwitg ha douse os past os Pebbles 5 inches in diameter. 
eee Tee TADCTSSCCONC «Ao oeriss toh dua ees go «ne oie hep Pebbles 6 inches in diameter. 
PPE et DCTTSCCONG,. numeoes «dd de tnckA ace vate s Pebbles 7 inches in diameter. 
PE MECGINDOIZEC CONC sauinin citote Fac at hs 3 kao Pebbles 8 inches in diameter. 
uC Pete CONC. awrite tee Pad a ae ere ay Pebbles 9 inches in diameter. 


Russell says concerning the above table: ‘It must be under- 
stood that the currents referred to in this table are bottom currents, 
and in general may be taken at about half the central surface cur- 
rent.’ A study of the table shows that the transporting power 
increases in a greater ratio than the increase in velocity. 

Le Conte, in his ‘Elements of Geology,’ shows that the trans- 
porting power of a current varies as the sixth power of the velocity. 
Thus, under this law it will be seen that by doubling the velocity 
of a current the transporting power will be increased sixty-four 
times. That is, if a stream having a given velocity will carry a 
pebble weighing two ounces, it will carry a pebble weighing 64 
ounces if its velocity is doubled. This law applies only to material 
held in suspension. Larger materials may be rolled along on the 
bottom of the stream bed. 


3—1424 


138 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


Streams, like White River, which have many meanders have their 
velocities greatly increased when they assume flood stages, and 
take a more direct course. The water passes over a shorter dis- 
tance than when it follows the old winding channel, while the fall 
between the source and the mouth of the stream remains the same 
at all times. Thus the velocity of the current is greatly increased, 
making it more effective as an agent in removing the top soil. A 
very heavy compact soil will be less affected by strong currents 
of water than a light loose soil, as muck or sandy soil. However, 
a very compact heavy soil will be readily cut into holes if the cur- 
rent has sufficient tools with which to work. In many places 
where the current broke across the neck of a large meander great 
holes were cut, one to two hundred feet in width, five to ten feet 
in depth, and in several places three or four hundred feet in length. 
This was the case at Worthington near where the Eel River enters 
White River. Mr. East is finishing the new channel and will make 
a permanent cut-off, thus shortening the river three-quarters of 
a mile. About a mile above Worthington was another example 
of the current starting to make a channel for itself across the neck 
of a large meander. In no case did the current cut a new channel 
all the way across the neck. If these new channels were extended 
entirely across the neck in the form of a ditch twelve or fifteen 
feet in width the increase in fall would soon cause the water to en- 
large the channel so that it would carry all of the water of White 
River, thus making a permanent cut-off. 

Holes. Where a stump, hay stack, tree, rock or any other 
obstacle was in the path of the current, the evenness of the current 
was disturbed and a spiral downward swirl started on the leeward 
side of the obstacles which acted in the same manner as water in 
a whirlpoo!. It was no uncommon thing to see holes in a field where 
there seemed to be no cause; but upon inquiry we would be in- | 
formed that there had been a hay stack, stump, rock or post at 
that place. Figure 3, shows a hole where there had been a hay 
stack. Farm implements were seen buried or in holes that had 
been excavated under them, due to the swirling action of the waters 
as the current passed around the obstacle. Corners of buildings 
were let down in the same manner. (See Figure 46.) These holes 
were sometimes ten or fifteen feet in depth and forty to a hundred 
feet in length. A break in a levee always caused a large hole to 
be excavated on the lower side of the break. Generally, the material 
taken from the hole was carried a short distance below and deposited 
in the form of a sand and gravel bar. 





Fia. 15. The current has removed the top soil to the depth to which it is plowed. In the first bend of 
White River south of Spencer, in the northeast corner of Section 29. The ridges are caused by the land side 
of the plow. Sand deposit near the trees along the river bank. 





Fig. 16. A thirty-foot bridge that was carried a half mile down stream from the public road north of 
Brownstown. 


140 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


Sand and Gravel. When there is a noticeable decrease in the 
current, sediment is deposited. Gravel and sand in the order of 
their size and specific gravity, and then the coarsest silt, and last 
the very fine silt, is the order of deposition. Trees on and near the 
river bank tend to check the current, causing it to drop the heaviest 
sediment close to the river, thus building up a natural levee, while 
the finer silt is carried out to enrich the valley land. There was 
wu tendency for corn stalks to retard the lower current, causing sand 
to be deposited that otherwise might have been carried on farther. 
Fences generally had sand deposits on the down stream side. Wire 
fences caught the floating debris, forming a sort of dam that tended 
to check the current, and in this way causing a deposit of sand on 
the lower side, and in some instances on both sides like snow drifts. 

It was not uncommon to see as much as twenty-five acres 
covered with from a few inches to five or six feet of sand and gravel. 
There were several places where there was as much as sixty and even 
eighty acres covered with sand. Just below Waverly there was a 
tract of ninety acres covered. About a mile above Spencer there was 
about sixty acres, while in the first bend in the river to the south, 
below Spencer, there was a very large amount of sand. Just below 
Newberry, there was a tract of about twenty acres, and just below 
the bridge at Freedom, on the east side of the river, there were about 
ten acres. (See Figure 11.) Also below ‘Blue Hole,’ at Wash- 
ington, there was as much as sixty acres covered with sand, from 
a few inches to four feet in depth. In most of these cases it will 
take several years to reclaim this land and get it in good productive 
condition. 


Silt. Where the water was backed up over a considerable area, 
silt was deposited. The amount of sediment deposited depends on the. 
length of time that the water stood on the ground and the amount 
of sediment in suspension. The greatest amount of sediment was 
deposited at the fork of the two branches of White River and at 
the junction of Muscatatuck with the East Fork of White River. 
A considerable amount of silt was deposited in the outside of the 
large meanders, as in the loop at Worthington, where Eel River 
joins White River. The current from Eel River had a tendency to 
hold back that part of the White River current that followed the 
old channel, thus depositing silt and fine sand. Figure 12 shows 
a small valley just south of Spencer on the east side of the river, 
in which the back water stood, causing silt to be deposited more 
than a foot in depth. Mud cracks were developed here in an in- 





Fie. 17. Middle ground shows where water had stood on wheat in an old lagoon. In the trees is the 
bridge that had been carried from the road north of Brownstown. 





Fig. 18. Top soil washed away and gravel deposited later. Gibson County. 


142 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


teresting fashion. McBrides Creek flows through this valley and 
furnished part of the sediment. 


Bank Cutting in General. Any obstacle or obstruction on or 
near the bank of a stream causes the current to be deflected to the 
opposite side of the channel, where it begins to cut away the bank, 
and is again deflected back to the side where it first started. This 
is the beginning of a meander. 

Bank cutting causes the velocity of the current to be retarded 
on account of the increased friction. The increased length of 
the course as well as the increased load also reduces the velocity 
of a stream. These conditions, resulting from bank cutting, all 
tend to reduce the velocity of the stream, thus making the flood 
stages higher. As a rule, a flood plain is made up of materials 
that are easily eroded or moved. A great many observations 
along the river showed that the top soil was from one to ten feet 
in thickness, while the under layers were composed of sand and 
eravel. This sand and gravel is easily moved by the current which 
washes it out from beneath the top soil or loam, permitting the latter 
to cave in. This accounts for the very steep banks on the out- 
side of. the meanders, and for the rapidity with which the current 
removes the material from the outside of the meander. The sand 
and gravel is carried to the inside of the meander and deposited 
in the form of sand bars; this is done in a large measure by the 
cross currents. The soil is lighter and is carried farther down 
stream and in many cases carried out and deposited on the flood 
plain. The sand and gravel has been moved from one side to 
the other many times. Many beautiful cross sections of large 
sand bars were seen. Figure 15, shows a typical vertical out- 
side bank of a meander. It seems that the shifting of the stream 
goes on more rapidly when the bank is just full or only partly full 
of water, for when the water is over the banks that which is left 
in the old channel seems to have less erosive power, or at least 
not any more than when the bank is just full. Even if the rate of 
bank cutting were the same during the over-flow stages of the 
river as when the banks are just full, the latter conditions occur 
much more often than the former, and it is therefore evident that 
there should be some measures taken to prevent rapid formation 
of meanders. 


Effect of Trees on Bank Cutting. ‘Trees along the river bank 
will to a great extent retard bank cutting. Sycamores and willows 
are possibly the best for this purpose. Figure 13 shows the roots 





Fic. 19. Before the flood reached the crest. Gibson County. 





Fic. 20. Hole washed out at S»mmers ditch crossing. Highway bridge washed out, 


144 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


of sycamore trees reaching down several feet, helping to hold the 
bank together. Also small trees and shrubs along the bank will 
tend to check the current, causing sediment to be deposited, and 
thus building up a natural levee and at the same time protecting 
the banks from being eroded. Figure 15 shows this process of 
building natural levees. 

We have seen that the soil from the outside of the meander 
is carried down stream, while the sand and gravel is carried across 
the stream to the inside low bank by the cross currents, where it 
is made into high bars, as seen in Figure 29. In this instance as 
much as forty acres have been carried from the outside and deposited 
in the form of a desolate waste, on the other side of the river, in 
the short time of ten years. It takes many years to reclaim this 
desolate waste, and after it is reclaimed it belongs to the man who 
owned land on the other side of the river, the original owner con- 
tinues to pay taxes on it while the other man farms it. The old 
saying, ‘What is one man’s loss is another’s gain,’ is somewhat. ap- 
plicable here. 

The thing that needs to be emphasized at this point is that 
bank cutting takes place every time that there is a channel full 
of water, and that the cutting power of the current is as efficient 
then as when the stream has assumed flood conditions. This 
phase of the flood situation can be controlled to a great extent, 
and the most serious cases greatly retarded, if not entirely stopped. 


Effect of Trees on Deposits. Two and one-half miles north 
of Martinsville on the west half of section 19 on the land belonging 
to Mr. W. E. Hendricks, is a row of trees extending east from the 
river as seen in Chart No. 2. Mr. K. I. Nutter owns the land east 
of the row of trees, which formerly extended as far east as the in- 
terurban line, but were removed by him. After a glance at the 
chart the result of the removal is evident. About 90 acres south 
of the row of trees was covered with silt from one to nine inches in 
depth, while east of the trees the current was unobstructed and as 
a result took two to four inches of the top soil from Mr. Nutter’s 
land. 


Effect of Grass-Sod on Erosion. Three miles southwest of 
Spencer on the land of Mr. John M. Dunn, the current left the river 
and made a short cut across a long meander. Where the current 
left the river there was a plot of grass some ten acres in extent. 
The ground covered with grass was not washed or denuded in the 
least, while the ground below this was robbed of three or four inches 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 145 


of the top soil. (See Chart No. 3.) Mr. Dunn is of the opinion 
that it would be better to put the entire bottom land that he owns 
in timothy, and farm the upland. Considering the price of timothy 
hay, and the resistance that a good grass sod maintains during 
flood times, it seems that this would be a very good plan. 


Summary of Damage to Soil. The following table gives the 
amount in acres that was covered with silt, sand, or gravel, and the 
amount denuded, and the number of acres lost by bank cutting on 
White River. 


TABLE No. 4. 


















































Bank a ; 
County. | Denuded. Garang Sand. Silt. 
West Fork. 
MEAG ek oe cts Sala ots’ 299 30 Li 2,000 
FENRIS Pat tacit sar aess & (Sta oc Sod 21D 28 50 1,000 
CRETE la ee ace ge tne 1,812 38 256 3,218 
Tie Se ge Seas mbes 1,699 22 223 289 
NOT GANaul nied, geod Fer, 438 27 264 2,370 
GT eh] whee ia gr au. 08 aah 4,723 145 870 8,850 
East Fork. 
RG ROR rex eitnicc sees eee 1,084 9 50 2,400 
WYNN OOM ek ceetine cea 3 143 Very, little. 50 300 
Ae We LENI CU fork eo bus.eiohis ho 1,300 Very little. 550 3,280 
VEER is Bee italien rah wis 1,660 Very little. 50 780 
Pris bee mee cease Byl2e 15 700 6,760 
Total for both Forks. 7,850 160 1,570 15,600 
At $20 per acre. | At $75 per acre. | At $50 per acre. 
Pstimated loss. e245 2. $157,000 $12,000 $77,500 
Ca Oeste OW MIS COO lgerser. i pie, Sree ae a ee ee cre $246,500 


As far as possible, every farmer was questioned as to the effect 
of soil wash on succeeding crops. The general consensus of 
opinion was to the effect that there would be about half a crop 
the first year, two-thirds the second, three-fourths the third year, 
and if a subsequent flood did not come there would be a full crop 


146 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


the fourth year. An ordinary crop on good bottom land is at the 
very least worth $20 per acre, and on much of it $380 would not be 
too high. One-half plus one-third plus one-fourth of $20 equals 
$21.60. This is the basis on which $20 is used as the loss per acre 
due to soil wash. Thirty dollars may not be too high. 

The value of the bottom land varies from $75 per acre to $100 
per acre, and there is a greater portion of it worth $100 per acre or 
more than there is worth less; but it is better to put the price too 
low than too high. The land lost by bank cutting is a complete 
loss, hence the loss per acre was placed at $75. The land that is 
covered with sand and gravel is almost useless for several years, 
but can be reclaimed after a considerable number of years, so that 
500 per acre seems to be a fair estimate of this sort of damage. ‘The 
farmers say that the ground that is covered with silt does not pro- 
duce a full crop the first year, but that after the new soil has been 
‘rozen the following crop will more than make up for the loss of 
tne first year. 

On the West Fork there were some who thought that the 
sediment which is being brought down in recent years is not so 
good as that which was formerly deposited over the flood plain. 
Others could see no difference. The investigators are of the opinion 
that the silt is not as good as it was before so much of the forest 
was cut from the steeper slopes. ‘This is especially true of the un- 
glaciated portion of the drainage basin of White River. During 
the last few years the steeper slopes have been robbed of their forests. 
The farmers have tried to farm these steep hills and as a result 
much gullying has taken place. The results of this process is to 
be seen in the western part of Monroe County and in the eastern 
part of Greene County. As much as twenty acres can often be found 
in one area that has been stripped of its grass sod, and numerous 
gullies have been cut down into the red limestone soil, exposing 
the limestone below. This soil is easily carried away and when 
dropped on the fertile alluvial flood plain is not as productive as 
the finer particles of humus that were gathered from the wooded 
areas several years ago, and deposited in the same places where the 
red clay is being deposited by every great flood. ‘To one who has 
spent three summers studying the geology of the unglaciated part 
of the State, there is no doubt but that the deposits derived from 
this part of the White River basin are less productive than formerly 
and this decrease in productivity is due in a large measure to de- 
forestation. There are several hundred acres in Monroe and Greene 
Counties that are in the same condition. A fuller report on this 





Fie. 21. Public road at Waverly, after the flood. The hole in the foreground was caused by the current 
enlarging a cellar under a house. 





Fra. 22. Large area of sand in the bend of the river west of Spencer. Notice the large sand bar near 
the trees. 


148 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


subject will be published later. For a full discussion of the effects 
of deforestation on erosion, see Mr. L. C. Glenn’s, ‘Denudation 
and Erosion in the Southern Appalachian Region, (Professional 
Paper; sN0se-2 aus Gio 


LEVEES AND HMBANKMENTS 


One of the most interesting phases in the study of the flood 
conditions was found in levees and embankments. We will first 
consider the levees and the embankments as to their relation to 
the river, their ponding effect upon the flood waters, their effect 
upon the land, both above and below them, and the effect of the 
high waters on the levees themselves. Then will follow a con- 
sideration of their general effects and conclusions concerning them. 
They will be taken up in the order in which they came under the 
notice of the investigators in the progress of the river work. Con- 
stant reference to the maps will help the reader to understand the 
text. 

Morgan County. White River in Morgan County flows through 
the exposed Knobstone sandstones and shales. Since this rock 
structure is easily weathered and eroded, the valley is remarkably 
wide, being from one to four miles in width. This great and valuable 
strip of alluvial land is cut through by the conspicuosly meandering 
river which does not tend to remain constant in its channel. As a 
result of this latter condition, man has attempted to hold it in 
its present channel by means of riprapping and leveeing at different 
places along the channel. JLevees, however, have not been built 
for that purpose alone, but for protecting the alluvial soil from 
wash and for the protection of growing crops. We will see with 
what success these constructions have served their purpose. 

The first construction that came to our attention was the 
public road extending northeast across the valley from Waverly. 
The water was completely over the embankment which was about 
ten feet in height in the stretch between Waverly and the cement 
bridge, a distance of about one-eighth of a mile. On the north side 
of the bridge it was much less in height. This was a new rock road 
and was almost entirely destroyed, the rock being carried several 
hundred feet below and deposited with other debris in a large bar. 
Next to the town not only was the grade washed out, but a deep 
hole was made. This was because of a swirl starting from the cellar 
of a house that was washed away. A very strong current raged at 
this place, due to the fact that the river turns nearly a right angle 


; { 4 \ > > ~~ 


oA es kari, Pat; oF ta ah 





Fie. 23. Looking southwest across ,White River at Gosport, March 26, 1913; showing ripples as water 
flowed over Monon track. 





Fia. 24. Monon station, Gosport, March 26, 1913. 


150 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


just above Waverly, and the overflowing water tended to sweep 
around the edge of the town in a more majestic course. 

The new cement bridge over the river was not damaged, but 
there is no doubt but that its massiveness and small cross section 
helped to direct the water to either side. Both approaches to the 
bridge were washed out. North of the bridge the road was washed 
away and the rock deposited in the fields below. About a quarter 
of a mile north of the bridge the largest wash occurred, where a cur- 
rent went across from above. About one acre of land was washed, 
from two to four feet deep, on each side of the road as a result 
of the unevenness of the flow caused by going over the road bed. 

A small levee planted in trees extended from the bridge to 
about one-half mile down the river, being parallel with it and about 
six rods away. This levee did not seem to have any effect outside 
of keeping the current confined to the river side. The strip of land 
between the levee and the river was badly denuded. 

About two miles southwest of Waverly a small stream enters 
the river from the west. Parallel with this stream on the section 
line of 22 and 27 is a large levee extending from nearly one-half 
mile back to near the river, where it turns at a right angle to follow 
the river for about one and three-quarter miles. This levee was 
high enough to be above the waters of the flood, but was broken in 
three places. The first two breaks were near the turn where the 
western extension reached the main levee parallel to the river. At 
each of these breaks occurred a hole from four to twenty feet below 
the valley land. These holes were made by the concentrated current 
rushing through the vents made in the levee. Beyond these holes 
were gravel bars from one to three feet in depth, each covering 
about an acre of good ground. These two breaks were evidently 
caused by groundhogs, since several places were literally honey- 
combed by their burrows. 

The third break in this levee was nearly a mile below the first 
two breaks. This one was very severe indeed. Some twelve 
to fifteen rods of the levee was entirely swept away and a pond 
of over a half acre in extent was left in its place. This pond is 
succeeded by a sand and gravel bar from one to four feet in depth 
and covering an area of about ninety acres. The bar ends abruptly 
in a terrace from two to three feet in height, nearly a half mile 
below the break. A strong current seemed to have hit the levee 
at this point causing the break, and there might have been a point 
of weakness here, due to the numerous groundhog burrows. Perhaps 
as much water flowed through this opening as flowed down the 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 151 


main channel. This alone would account for the immense sandbar 
below. By consulting the map it will be seen that this was a natural 
course for the river to take after the levee was broken through. 
The current took a short course while the river takes a circuitous 
course to reach the point where the current entered the channel 
again. 

This levee has perhaps done much good in the past and would 
have done much good this time had it not been broken through. 
The water would naturally back up from below and cover this large 
area of some four hundred acres, and being quiet, much silt would 
be deposited. <A levee situated as this one is would be very useful, 
if well made; but it must be well made, for if it breaks it will bring 
great damage to the land that it is supposed to protect. 

The next levee that demands attention is in Section 5, about 
two miles below the one considered above. Again a stream comes 
in from the west, and a levee fifteen feet in height, constructed 
within the last few years, extends parallel with the stream for 
about three-quarters of a mile. This levee hes at a right angle 
to the river. About the middle of the levee a wing extends to the 
southward for nearly one-half mile, where it joins the river which 
has circuited to the west, and at the point where the levee approaches, 
it turns south again. It seemed that a current of water left the 
main river above the levee and flowed up the small stream. ‘The 
levee seemed to be sufficiently high, but it broke in two places. 
The break again appears to have been caused by groundhog burrows. 
The first break was between the south extending wing and the 
river. Quite a deep hole was made here and a corresponding 
sand and gravel bar was made below, but otherwise very little 
damage was done, since the area included by the main levee, the 
wing to the southwest, and the river was mostly covered with silt. 
The main part of the current went by this break to near the western 
end of the levee where a break of large dimensions occurred. Below 
the vent and holes, a large bar from one to two feet in depth covered 
about two acres. Quite a strong current went through this break, 
denuding a strip all of the way to the Henderson bridge, where 
the current again joined the river channel. 

This levee with its south-extending wing has been valuable 
in ordinary overflows in causing the land to be silted, but its use, 
as in the preceding levee, lies in its being unbroken. It should 
evidently be protected from the ravages of groundhogs. 

The conditions at the Henderson bridge were striking. The 
current was on the south side of the river channel. It was prob- 


ANGER 
Bad i 
cro 





Fic. 25. White River at Gosport, March 26, 1913. 





Fig. 26. Looking south down the Monon railroad tracks after the flood. 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 Ld 


ably deflected to this side by the current coming from the big 
break in the levee considered just above. No water passed across 
the road north of the bridge. A new road had been made and rocked 
on a twelve foot grade south of the bridge. This grade was liter- 
ally destroyed, only remnants remaining. The river channel was 
widened by one-third on the south side of the bridge, thus leaving 
the bridge ending some sixty feet out in the river. A new span 
will be needed to complete the bridge. The current that did the 
damage came from the broken levee above. Where the road grade 
was so badly torn away, a great pond from four to twenty feet deep 
and an acre in area, was washed out. Below this hole some twenty 
acres of land was covered with sand and gravel one to four feet 
in depth. Land in this condition is worse than useless. The 
damage here was several thousand dollars and was due to the con- 
striction of the passageway under the bridge. 

The next grade that suffered was the interurban line that 
connects Martinsville to Indianapolis. A mile or more from the 
mouth of White Lick Creek, the current left the creek and flowed 
across the valley. This current damaged the pike road and passing 
on a short distance washed out about a half mile of the interurban 
track between Centerton and the river. South of the river the cur- 
rent left the channel, making a direct course across the bend, and 
washed out about an eighth of a mile more of the interurban track. 
The telephone and electric line wires were torn down. Little or 
no damage was done to the soil as the grade was rather low. 

The Vandalia Railroad bed was also much injured on both 
sides of the river. About three-quarters of a mile of track was 
washed out between Centerton and the river, while south of the river 
about one-eighth mile was washed out. Here again the grade was 
rather low and not much damage was done to the farm land. There 
was some denudation, but it was not due to the grades but to the 
current taking a more direct course across the neck of the meander. 

The public road leading northwest out of Martinsville across 
the valley served as a slight obstruction to the waters and as a 
result was practically destroyed. The road metal was carried 
several hundred feet out in the field below and the road bed was 
washed down to the old corduroy bed. West of the bridge the grade 
was completely carried away. One pier of the bridge was damaged. 
Again below the grade there were as usual great holes cut, with the 
usual sand and gravel bars below. 

On the west side of the river about three miles southwest 
of Martinsville is a high levee about one and one-half miles long, 


4—1424 


154 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


known as the Bane levee. This levee is built obliquely to the river, 
coming to the river at its lower end. (See map.) The water did 
not get sufficiently high to flow over this levee, and it would have 
been of valuable service had it not been broken in two places. The 
levee is not planted in trees, but is covered with a heavy blue-grass 
sod. Some horses and mules were stranded on this levee for several 
days. The mules attempted to leave and were lost. Near the middle 
of the levee a break occurred, caused, possibly, by a concentration 
of the current at this point by a bend in the river just above. This 
is one of the worst breaks found in the levees along the White River, 
being second only to the one in the levee first discussed. Where 
the levee had been, a hole of one acre in area and from five to twelve 
feet in depth was formed. Below this hole was a huge gravel bar, 
three feet in depth and five acres in area. The current of water 
that went through this break went southwest and after flowing two 
and one-half miles re-entered the river. The current was wide and 
deposited sediment mainly. It washed only in small patches where 
there were little elevations on the flood plain. About one-half 
mile below the break the current encountered a hedge fence against 
which much drift was piled. This made a veritable levee out of 
the hedge, but the waters could rush through in many places. 
This resulted in about ten acres being denuded from six inches to 
three feet in depth with a great sand bar below. 

A second break occurred in the Bane levee near its junction 
with the river. This break was perhaps less than half the size of 
the other. It seemed that a great part of the water that flowed 
through this break flowed up stream (being protected by the levee) 
and joined the upper current where the land is much lower than it 
is near the river. The Bane levee was the last of any importance 
in Morgan County. 


Owen County. The flood conditions in Owen County were 
the most interesting met with along the river. As has been mentioned 
elsewhere in this report, the geologic structure has been important 
in the determining of the physiography of the State. Near Gosport 
the surface rock changes from the soft Knobstone shales to the 
overlying hard limestones, which are not so susceptible to the 
weathering agents. Throughout Owen County the valley is bordered 
by cliffs of limestone and hard sandstone. No longer does one see 
wide fertile valleys as in the county above. The narrowness of 
the valley is remarkable. It is from a quarter of a mile to a little 
less than a mile in width. The water had no opportunity to spread 









TOPOGRAPHIC MAP | 
OF A PORTION OF 
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 
AT SHOALS, IND. 
Nd NUS Me BENS 

ANE 














3350 
( 
Ss ( 430 
r — = = . 4506 
- : — ye eee 
\ 


~ \ — 


$ 
\ _— 
—! \ 








“So ETT) RRGrade Washed | 
X ° e 
Gi = 


3s,  CONTOUF INTERVAL 70OFT. 
< SCALE oF MILES 


re) 


or 





Water veached 490 Covtour Live 


Pirate No. 1. Contour map of vicinity of Shoals, showing bluffs, bottoms, and location of currents and washouts. 














Fia. 27. Trestle of I. C. Railroad at Bloomfield. Neither the trestle nor the bottom land was injured, 
on aecount of ample opening for the water to pass through. 





Fie. 28. Bank-cutting west of Newberry, Greene County, on the James Blackmore farm. 


156 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


over a vast area as in the preceding county, and was consequently 
much deeper. At places the water was as much as thirty feet in 
depth on the first bottom. Such was the case at Romona. This 
great depth increased the head, reduced the friction, and conse- 
quently increased the velocity. The result of such an immense 
amount of water in such a narrow valley can easily be conjectured. 
The valley was swept clean. A glance at the map will show the 
conditions. 

Since the valley is narrow and meandering, the farm land is 
not seen in vast stretches, but is in irregular patches of no great 
extent. There is no such occasion for building levees as there 
is in the preceding county. Again, perhaps, experience has taught 
the farmers that levees and embankments do not avail much when 
it is possible for the water to get thirty feet deep over the valley. 
At least there are only a few, possibly two, places that demand 
consideration here. 

The first is the Monon grade at Gosport. A glance at the 
map shows that the railroad grade is in a curve across the valley. 
The grade is from twelve to twenty-five feet in height, and the 
only opening is at the bridge over the river, consequently this 
gerade impeded the water and ponded a great amount of it above 
until it rose sufficiently to flow across. Eye witnesses said that a 
fall of three to five feet was produced, and that the water broke 
over ina mighty ripple almost a mile in length. The greatest damage 
was done to the grade itself. It was more than half swept away, 
the track being completely turned over with the ties on top of the 
rails. It was ten days before it could be put in sufficient repair 
for temporary traffic. The bridge was also injured by the river 
bed being deepened near one of the piers. Below the embank- 
ment the land was heavily silted. At the railroad bridge about an 
acre was cut from one to four feet in depth. The railroad company 
suffered the greatest damage here. It seems that there should 
be at least another section added to each end of the bridge, and 
to insure traffic against the highest floods there should be some 
trestle besides. The grade was replaced just at it was before 
the flood. : 

The second place of interest in Owen County with regard 
to embankments is two and one-half miles east of Freedom, on the 
land belonging to Mr. Frank C. Dunn. Here the river makes a 
complete semi-circle. It enters Section 23 flowing south, but soon 
curves to the west, and in Section 22 has curved until it is flow- 
ing north. Inside of this loop there are about two hundred acres 











White River Yale 


42-2 1% 


‘ 


Ne Gees ASzey SA SST 


RS wa 
WS 
WY BA 
Ss 
Dike: pees aon | 
Qnad 

Greener Drresits 

[a] seve 


Pass 


<= Bl\wrte Et 





Cuart No 3. West fork of White River from Waverly to Gosport, showing effects of flood. 


7 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 1D 


of land of which one hundred and forty acres are tillable. Where 
the river leaves the bluff at the upper part of the loop, a levee be- 
gins and extends parallel with the river for nearly one-quarter 
of a mile. This levee was almost completely washed out and ad- 
jacent to it some four acres of land were cut from one to four feet 
in depth. Below this badly cut area there were some fifty acres 
badly denuded, while forty acres were silted towards the western 
edge of the loop. This levee heretofore had done good service 
for Mr. Dunn. As long as the water did not get over it, not only 
was his land in the loop protected, but the water was directed in 
such a manner as to rob his neighbor across the river and add a 
corresponding amount to the inside of the bend. Mr. Dunn has 
declared his intention of rebuilding the levee. 


Greene County. In Greene County the river gets wider, 
and below Worthington it is much wider. ‘This is due to the out- 
cropping of the soft and easily eroded coal measures and to the 
effects of the Illinois glacial sheet. In pre-glacial times the river 
ran as much as four or five miles to the west of its present 
course. It probably ran through the gap that is now occupied by 
Switz City, thence southward by the present site of Lyons. It 
seems to have been pushed over to its present position by the great 
ice invasions of the glacial times. The entire area from Switz 
City and Lyons eastward to the river is not wholly valley land; it has 
several great tracts of hill land in it, which are set in the midst of 
the great alluvial area. The vast stretch of valley land from Switz 
City and Lyons, southward and eastward to the river was not all 
under water, but the most of it was near the danger line. Few 
levees were noticed near the river, but railways and public road 
embankments offered interesting situations in reference to the 
flood waters. 

In Sections 13 and 14, three and one-half miles east and a 
mile north of Worthington, a group of levees occurs that demands 
consideration. They are in a great loop to the south, about which 
the river runs, coming back northward for a considerable distance. 
The loop has in it about three hundred acres of farm land. Where 
the river enters Section 13, a levee was built a year before the flood | 
by Mr. U. G. Clark, who owns the land. The levee which ex- 
tended along the right side of the river for over a quarter of a mile 
was washed entirely away. <A hole from one to four feet deep was 
in its former position. The current which left the river here and 
washed the levee away spread out over and denuded perhaps a 














Fie. 29. A huge sand and gravel bar, below the mouth of Veal Creek. The bar is more than six feet 
above the level of the water. 


Se 


Sey 
ost 
Raeietianct 
ten 
ae 





Fia. 30. Soil erosion on James Blackmore farm, west of Newberry. 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 159 


hundred acres of land in Sections 18 and 14. The wash was worse 
adjacent the railroad, which follows the foot of the bluff all along 
the valley. The current in its lower course before entering the river 
evidently became sluggish, as much silt was deposited in the western 
part of Section 14. 

Farther down in the loop is a levee extending southward some 
distance from the river, and on approaching the river, which has 
turned to the westward, the levee turns at a right angle and extends 
parallel to the river, but some distance removed from it. The 
west wing of the levee stands much higher above the land than 
the north wing. The top of it, however, is no higher than the 
north wing. Presumably the idea is to have no part lower, and to 
have all parts above the flood stage. From near the turn in the 
levee another wing extends to the northeast. This extension is 
considerably lower and a hedge is growing upon it. This levee 
system was of no service during the last flood. It was broken in 
numerous places and heavy denudation occurred at the breaks. 
Much of the intervening land was denuded. 

This group of levees has been of much benefit in the past. 
They were so arranged that they prevented a current from flowing 
over the land in the loop, but would permit the back waters to 
come up on the land, thus depositing a heavy silt and enriching the 
land. They were not built to cope against a flood that would 
completely envelope them. ‘The question arises whether it would 
be a paying proposition to construct levees for such exigencies. 
This will be considered later. 

An interesting situation occurs at Worthington. Eel River 
flows through a narrow gap between the rocky hill of east Worth- 
ington and the steep bluff of ‘Old Point Commerce,’ northeast 
of Worthington. This gap is about one-eighth of a mile in width. 
(There is no doubt that Eel River once flowed to the west of the 
present site of Worthington.) This small gap is dammed by 
the Vandalia railroad grade, except at the bridge over Eel River, 
where an opening of one hundred and eighty-two feet is left. The 
grade is at least twenty-five feet in height. The country north 
and west of Worthington is really what may be termed ‘second 
bottom,’ belonging to Eel River. 

During the flood the water from Eel River had to go through — 
the narrow opening in the Vandalia railway grade. The opening was 
too small to carry the water and as a result the water was ponded 
at least three feet higher on the upper side of the bridge than it 
was on the lower side. The E. & T. R. R. grade running northwest 


160 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


from Worthington prevented the pent-up waters from escaping 
over the ‘second bottom’ west of Worthington, but finally the shght 
gerade gave way and the excess water of Eel River found an outlet 
to the west of Worthington, down Morgan ditch or Dead ditch, 
which does not get its ordinary flow of water into White River until 
near the vicinity of Bloomfield. This release of the water of Hel 
River caused the water which had been ponded above the Vandalia 
Railroad grade to fall, but it was this water that flooded the west- 
ern part of Worthington, thereby doing much damage. 

It is evident from the above that the E. & I. R. R. grade for 
a time protected Worthington from an overflow, and if this grade 
had been higher and firmer, Worthington would have been safe from 
the overflow. It is evident also that the Vandalia grade was an 
obstruction to the free passage of the waters of Eel River, and 
was a direct agent in the flooding of that city. Without doubt 
the opening in the Vandalia grade at the bridge should be made 
longer. This argument is much truer since Mr. Z. I. East has 
prolonged Eel River nearly one-half mile by directing the channel 
of White River across a loop, thus shortening its course and causing 
the old channel of White River to become the Eel River channel 
for one-half mile. 

In the matter of embankments, the situation at Bloomfield is 
striking. A public road and two railroads cross the valley here 
at right angles and all within a short distance of each other. The 
public road with a grade some twelve feet in height comes first 
on the north side. The Illinois Central Railroad crosses mostly 
on trestle work a short distance below. The Monon Branch Rail- 
road is just a short distance below the Illinois Central grade. The 
Monon grade is made almost entirely of stone and is ten or twelve 
feet in height. There are very few openings in the Monon grade 
with which to accommodate the flood waters. Some distance 
above the public road the river swings from a middle position in 
the valley to the western side, and after passing the three con- 
structions mentioned, it makes a great long loop to the south and 
finally swings back almost to the Monon Railroad. Then the 
river turns again, flowing along the Monon grade a short distance 
until it is deflected southward by the bluff. The meander here 
makes a letter ‘S’ with the top of the letter to the west. (See 
Chart No. 5.) 

It might be mentioned again here that the Illinois Central 
grade has no effect upon impeding the flood waters, since it is 
composed mostly of trestle work. A short stretch of the trestle 












Wahid es Raiwtw Notre 


Bean Ce vy 
aed Xv 






Sandbar y 


Crart No. 4. Showing the action of the West Fork from Gosport to Farmers. 





Fia. 31. Junction of the East and West Forks of White River. 





Fia. 32. West of Brownstown. The channel here is more than 40 rods in width. The opposite bank is 
being cut away very rapidly while the bank on the right of the picture is being extended in the form of a low 
sand bar. 





99 


Fig. 33. B.& O. Railroad bridge across White River, above Medora. 








Fia. 34. Public road bridge at Rivervale after the flood. 


BYBEE-MALOTT: TIE FLOOD oF 1913 Gs 


work and part of the grade were carried away near the eastern end 
where a strong current raged along the bluff. In a very short 
time they had trains crossing on schedule time. 

The public road grade broke in spite of all that was done to 
save it. It also broke near the western side of the valley, as the 
grade was lower at that point. About one-third of the material 
of which the grade was constructed was washed away and the part 
remaining was cut and washed to the extent that it was impassable 
for more than two months after the flood. This grade has been 
rebuilt and paved with cement and this will make it able to with- 
stand the floods of the future. Immediately below this grade 
the soil was removed, but only for a short distance, as the current 
was checked by the Monon grade. 

The Monon grade, though it was constructed of rock, fared 
very badly. Just below where the Illinois Central trestle was 
injured, the grade was entirely swept away. The raging waters 
tore up much of the grade between this point and the river bridge, 
and removed all of the track from the grade. It was more than two 
months after the water had gone down before the road bed was 
sufficiently repaired for traffic to be resumed. This was quite 
a contrast to the Illinois Central Railway, which resumed traffic 
in less than four days. 

Below the Monon grade great holes were cut and the land was 
denuded very severely below these holes. It would have been much 
worse if it had not been for the peculiar return of the main river 
current in forming of the above mentioned letter ‘S.’ 

In the southern part of Greene County, just opposite Newberry, 
is a grade similar to the road grade at Bloomfield. It is some 
eight to ten feet in height and goes directly across the valley from 
the bridge next to the bluff on the southern side of the valley. 
There are, however, two openings in the grade over which are steel 
bridge spans. About one-third of this grade was removed from the 
top for over one-half mile. All of the rock was removed and part 
of_the grade that remained was badly cut and washed. The grade 
was still unrepaired two months after the flood. The land was 
considerably washed both below and above the grade. 

About fifty rods below the road at Newberry is a high levee | 
with a strip of trees and bushes before it and on it. It is built 
at right angles to the river and parallel to the road grade. It 
does not extend quite to the river, and lacks several rods of extending 
to the bluff at the other end. Asa result, the water rushed around 
it at both ends. Many trees and bushes kept the land from being 


164 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


cut or washed at the river end of the levee, while at the other end 
where there were no trees, the land was washed very badly for 
some distance below. To the leeward of this levee about eighty 
acres was covered with a heavy deposit of silt. In some places 
the silt was over a foot in depth. This levee was not built with 
the intention of protecting the valley land, but was built years 
ago in connection with the old canal between Terre Haute and 
Evansville. 

It is interesting to note the situation where the C. T. H. & S. 
E. railroad crosses the valley in southern Greene County and northern 
Daviess County. Long stretches of trestle work are frequent and at 
the river there is a long stretch. The trestle work permitted 
the water to pass by, practically unimpeded. Consequently little 
or no damage was done to the railroad or to the land either above 
or below the grade. The advisability of trestle work was clearly 
shown here. 


Knox and Daviess Counties. White River, between Knox 
and Daviess Counties, is a long series of meanders in a wide and 
dismal stretch of valley land. For as much as three-fourths of the 
distance no upland is visible from the river. The valley land seems 
so plentiful that little care is taken of either its improvement or 
its protection against the meandering river. Each year acre after 
acre of this fertile land is taken from the outside of the numerous 
meanders, and corresponding low sandy wastes are made on the 
inside of the meanders. If this meandering could be stopped, or 
the river straightened and kept straight, hundreds of acres of fertile — 
land could be utilized, which now are either sandy or swampy waste 
areas. But the valley land is, perhaps, yet too plentiful for such 
measures to be considered. 

The flood damage between these two counties was not so great 
as might be supposed, since the valley is so wide the waters spread 
out in some places as much as five miles. This prevented it from 
being very deep and from being confined in definite currents, except 
locally. It was only locally that the soil was denuded by the cur- 
rent passing over it. The greatest damage was in the bank-cutting 
on the outside of the meanders. As bank-cutting is no worse 
in times of flood than when the banks are just full, or partially 
full, the flood did no more damage than any other ordinary high 
water, so far as soil wash was concerned. The problem of bank- 
cutting lies in straightening the river and then keeping it straight. 
It is a question as to whether the benefits derived would meet the 
cost of keeping it straight. 











LLP at 
GD APR OWS gv 
ry! PRS a 
REED fs 
> 
S 


Cuart No. 5. West Fork from Farmers to region below Newberry. 


r/ S 
EO, KS y 

) SOK Lis y 
QYy FERS ; ~ J 
ae NX SOK C8 x 

i , % ES 

Pepe Os 
( " Pre . \ * 

¢ 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 165 


In regards to levees and embankments very few were present 
for consideration. The levees near the river were insignificant 
and seemingly had no effect for bad or for good. Only one embank- 
ment occurs that deserves consideration. Outside of the damage 
done by bank cutting, nearly as much damage was done below the 
B. & O. Railroad grade near Washington as was done within the 
entire river scope of the two counties. The grade is high, being 
perhaps twenty feet on the average. ‘There is no trestle-work 
west of the river and very little east of it, thus compelling the enor- 
mous amount of water to rush under the bridge. The central pier 
was washed out and the steel bridge_collapsed. Nearly a mile east 





Fig. 35a. Frogeye, in Shoals, looking south. 


of the river there was a short trestle-work across a hole known as 
the ‘Blue Hole.’ This trestle-work was carried out and part of a train 
was carried down with it. Four lives were lost here. The bodies 
of two of the victims were not found until two weeks later, when 
they were found under several feet of sand. Below this ‘Blue 
Hole’ sixty acres were covered with sand from a few inches to five 
or six feet in depth. On the west side of the river just below the 
bridge two acres were cut from the bank where the water rushed 
against it in coming through the opening under the bridge. Large 
trees were washed out and carried away. Six hundred acres were 
denuded, and forty acres of wheat were washed away, and eighty 
acres were covered more or less unevenly with white sand. 


166 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


Most of the damage done here was due to the railroad grade. 
Had there been sufficient trestle work the damage would have 
been slight. Despite all of this, no trestle work is being constructed. 


East Fork of White River. That part of the East Fork of 
White River which was investigated as to the flood conditions 
has only a few features in common with the West Fork. In the 
first place, the waters were much higher, mainly because of the 
superior abundance of rainfall within its basin; secondly, because 
of the narrowness of the valley itself, which is very similar to the 
West Fork in Owen County; and thirdly, because of slighter fall. 





Tia. 385b. Frogeye, in Shoals, looking south. 


The region above the junction of the Muscatatuck River with White 
River, is similar to the Morgan County region of the West Fork. 
Here the valley is wide for the same reason that the valley of the 
West Fork is wide, 1. e., it is in the Knobstone region, with its soft 
and easily eroded sandstones and shales. Below Sparksville the 
valley ranges from less than a quarter of a mile in width to about a 
mile. It seldom gets over three-quarters of a mile in width, and 
generally is about one-half mile wide. Through this latter region 
the valley is really a great meandering groove with the river passing 
from one side to the other as the entrenched meanders of the val- 
ley turn in one loop after another. The channel itself has for 
ages, so to speak, remained in its present site. It does not cut 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 167 


its bank on the outside of the great meanders, because the outside 
of these meanders is the outside of the valley itself, and is usually 
a steep rocky wall, one to three hundred feet above the stream. 

There were no levees noticed in the stretch of river between 
Brownstown and Shoals, but there were a few railway embank- 
ments that need consideration. The first of these is the Balti- 
more and Ohio Southwestern embankment near Medora in Jackson 
County. The valley here is nearly three miles in width. It is 
in the Knobstone region. This B. & O. grade across the valley 
will average some fifteen feet in height. There are no trestles 
east of the river and only three or four short stretches to the west 
of the river. The grade comes to the bank of the river on both 
sides. As a result of this inadequate trestle-work, as much as a 
mile of the grade was washed out, or partially so. The short 
stretches of trestle-work on the west side of the river were washed 
out on account of the concentration of the current at these points. 
The second pier from the east end of the bridge was undermined and 
the structure collapsed. (See Figure 33.) The land was badly 
washed below this grade, and sand and gravel were deposited in 
several places. On the west side of the river ten acres were covered 
with sand from a few inches to three feet. 

Before the grade broke, the water was much higher on the 
north side than it was on the lower side. This caused the village 
of Medora to suffer considerably. This condition was due to the 
inadequacy of the trestle-work. If the water could have passed 
freely, much damage would have been avoided, and several thousand 
dollars would have been saved the B. & O. Railroad. 

The B. & O. bridge over White River south of Bedford was not 
damaged, but about two hundred feet of the high grade on the south 
side of the river was removed. (Fig. 3 shows the crew replacing 
the grade instead of putting in trestle-work.) It seems that these 
grades should be replaced with trestle-work, but it may be less 
expensive to have traffic tied up for short intervais, and to build 
new bridges than to go to the expense of putting in trestle-work. 

The Monon Railroad crosses the valley at right angles, three 
miles south of Bedford. There is no trestle-work here. The grade 
approaches to the very river banks. As a result considerable 
stretches of the track were washed out. Again the grade was re- 
built and no trestle-work installed. | 

The situation at Shoals is very peculiar. The special plate 
shows the relations. As can be seen, the part of the town east 
of the river is built on a hill situated in the middle of an alluvial 





Fig. 1. Showing hole cut by current where it passed over a levee. One mile south of Romona. 





Fig. 2. A typical hole washed out by the current. One mile south of Romona. 





by 
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ty 
























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STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 169 


valley. The plate indicates the part of the B. & O. track and grade 
that was removed. (See also Figs. 385 to 40.) There is no doubt 
that the railroad grade at this place should be partly replaced with 
trestle-work. On the west side of the river not only the railroad 
grade but the street that connects West Shoals with Hast Shoals 
served as an obstruction for the water. The cement sidewalk was . 
torn away, but neither of the grades was badly injured. The great 
bulk of the water went around to the east of the town and came 
into the river again near where Beaver Creek enters the channel. 
In all, forty-four houses were either removed from their foundations 
or carried away. ‘his would have resulted regardless of the railroad 
grade, the houses themselves being situated on the flood plain 
within reach of high waters. 


Conclusion. The consideration of the levees along both forks 
of White River brings out the fact that during the March flood all 
of the levees brought disaster. Not only were they damaged them- 
selves but they caused the adjacent territory to be washed and de- 
nuded, in many cases very badly. Now, since this was true in the 
recent flood, it will be true of future floods that approximate the 
recent one. We are now ready for the pertinent question: Is it 
worth while to provide protection against such floods in the future? 
We will presume that the above question is answered in the affirm- 
ative, just for the sake of showing how simply and practically 
protection may be provided in regard to railroads and public road 
embankments. From a study of the conditions as they are briefly 
given above, the following conclusions present themselves: 


1. Railroad embankments have almost invariably impeded 
the free passage of the water and caused it to be ponded above for a 
time. 

2. Railroad embankments suffered severely and in some cases 
bridges were destroyed. 

3. By the breaking of the embankment, the land below has 
been greatly damaged and in some cases injured beyond reclamation. 

4. A noticeable lack of trestle-work was the cause of the 
water being impeded and ponded. 

5. Near Riverside, Greene County, the C. T. H. & S. E. R. R. 
had plenty of trestle-work and no serious damage was done, either 
to the embankment or to the land immediately below. 

6. The I. C. R. R. at Bloomfield was only slightly damaged 
because of the long stretch of trestle-work that permitted the water 
to pass unimpeded. 


5—1424 








Fia. 36. Mill Street, West Shoals, looking south. 


Higeroie sD. aU, grade*east of Shoals, after the flood. 


< 


SRNR ae: 

















Fia. 38. B. & O. grade between Hast and West Shoals. Note crooked track. 





Fig. 39. Water flowing over railroad grade between bridge and West Shoals. 


172 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


7. Public road grades, such as at Henderson Bridge in Morgan 
County, at Bloomfield, and at Newberry suffered considerable 
damage because of the inadequate passage-way for the water at the 
bridges. 

8. Some public roads suffered because the flood waters were 
high above them rather than because they impeded the waters. 

9. Where trestle-work was sufficient near the river, neither 
the bridges nor the grades nor the land below suffered any con- 
siderable damage. 


From these conclusions, it seems that the way to prevent damage 
by future floods, so far as railroads and public road embankments 
are concerned, would be to provide more trestle-work. This remedy 
is both simple and practical. 

The levee question along White River above the junction of 
the two forks is but little related to such a question in a great 
valley like the Mississippi River Valley. In the Mississippi valley 
the object in view is to keep the great volume of water that comes 
from the upper tributaries confined to a _ relatively narrow 
channel, and to keep it from spreading over the entire valley, or 
at least any considerable portion of it. Along White River the 
object in view is to protect small areas from currents which would 
wash and carry away the top soil. In many cases it is not de- 
sirable that the water should be kept off the land, as back water 
generally enriches the land with its deposit of silt. However, 
the levee question along White River is related to the lower Mis- 
sissippi River problem in the fact that White River is a tributary 
to the Mississippi River, and the rate of discharge, etc., all have 
an appreciable effect upon the lower course. For instance, should 
all of the tributaries be improved before the lower course of the 
river was improved, serious consequences would follow. Local 
improvement only tends to make the damage more intense farther 
down the course. ‘The levee situation on White River has little 
in common with the levee situation of the lower Mississippi River, 
but there must be some co-operation in the plans of the improve- 
ment of the two different parts of the same river system. Improve- 
ment should begin at the lower course and be extended toward 
the tributaries. 

The levees which were encountered during the flood investi- 
gation were all built with the idea of protecting a small area of land, 
and they were all wisely planned for that purpose. These levees 
served well in ordinary overflows. In the March flood they were 
all failures. They were not strong enough to withstand the pres- 








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Cuart No. 7 





Map of East Fork from Brownstown to Sparkeville. 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD oF 1913 Eis 


sure of the water, or were not high enough. Would it be practical 
to construct levees both strong and high enough to protect the 
land from floods of the proportions of the recent one? 

The writers believe that it would be practical to construct 
levees of such a nature. Several of the levees considered were 
high enough, but were weak in places. In most cases it would be 
well to have them higher. A levee is like a chain; it is no stronger 
than its weakest link. The weak places should be strengthened. 
The most dangerous enemies to the levees seemed to be the ground- 
hogs. In very few cases do the levees need to be protected with 
a rock covering, but it would be well to have trees and shrubs grow- 
ing on them. The levees considered in this paper were effective 
for years before the 1913 flood, and would have been effective then 
if they had been a little higher and a little stronger in a few places 
where they were subject to unusual strain. The extra expense 
in making them flood proof would be nominal, and if they are to 
be used at all they should be made strong, for a weak levee causes 
much damage when it breaks. 

There are many places along White River which could be pro- 
tected by levees. Even in many of the narrower confines of the 
valley, levees could be made with much benefit to the land. For 
instance, along the East Fork of White River the valley itself is 
continually turning to the right and to the left and the river crosses 
from side to side in its tendency to be always on the outside of the 
turn. Where it leaves a bluff on one side to cross to a bluff on the 
other side, the river bank is usually low; sometimes there is no bank 
at all, and a low strip of land continues to ‘B,’ on to ‘C,’ but usually 
it is much lower at ‘A’ and ‘B’ than it is at ‘C,’ where the current 
enters the river channel. The current flows in this low strip when- 
ever there is even a minor flood. A levee placed at ‘A’ would be 
hard to hold, but one placed at ‘B’ would not be so likely to be 
washed away since the current from the river channel would not 
strike it. A levee placed at ‘B’ would need to be very little higher 
than the valley land near the river where it is usually highest. Such 
a levee would in time cause the low strip to fill with silt and would 
be a great improvement to the land. The low area to the leeward 
of the levee would probably become a pond or be very wet, but this 
condition could be overcome by tiling. 





Fic. 40. Railroad bridge at Shoals, 





Fig. 41. Water ponded in little stream about Southern Indiana Power Company’s dam at Williams. 





Lawmre tCnce 





.) -. — 
Sarwrdpware 


Map of East Fork from Ft. Ritner to a place five miles southwest of Williams. 


= 


Caart No. 7. 


oO) | 


‘SHE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 hy 


BaNK-CUTTING 


Several times in this report, bank cutting has been partic- 
ularly mentioned as an important phase of the flood situation. 
Mention has also been made of the fact that bank-cutting is not 
confined to flood stages, but to stages when the water is three 
or more feet above low water mark. As a rule, the bottom of the 
river channel and the lower part of the banks is somewhat tougher 
than any part above. No bank cutting goes on in the low water 
condition; but as soon as the water has risen three or four feet 
in the channel, it begins to come against the outside bank of the 
river in rounding a meander, and comes in contact with the looser 
material above the tough, compact, lower part. Caving is then 
an immediate result. As the water rises higher, it gains in velocity 
and its efficiency for bank cutting increases until the channel is 
bank full. This is probably the most favorable condition for bank- 
cutting, for, as soon as the water begins to flow over the valley 
land, across the neck of the meander, some of the force of the cur- 
rent is taken in the direction of the overflow, and the velocity of 
the current is checked, thereby lessening the cutting power. More- 
over, when the water rises high over the valley land, the thread 
of swiftest flow is raised, perhaps, above the banks and bank-cut- 
ting is lessened. 

It is interesting to note the relation of the height of the river 
banks to the width of the valley. On the West Fork above Gosport 
and on the East Fork above Sparksville, the valleys are from one 
to four miles wide, due to the very susceptible erosiveness of the 
Knobstone Group of Rocks. In these regions the banks are low, 
ranging from six to twelve feet above low water mark. From 
Gosport to Worthington, on the West Fork, and from Sparksville 
to the southwestern corner of Martin County, on the East Fork, 
the valleys range from less than a quarter of a mile to a mile in 
width, due to the highly resistant erosiveness of the Upper Mis- 
sissippian rocks and the Mansfield sandstone of the Lower Penn- 
svlvanian rocks. The banks in these regions are from twelve to 
forty feet above low water mark. The remaining parts of both 
forks are in the easily eroded coal measures, and the valleys are, 
therefore, wide. Again, the banks are low, ranging from eight 
to fifteen feet in height. Thus, in the wide valley regions, the 
river banks are low, and in the restricted valley regions the river 
banks are high. 

The above conditions and relations are easily explained. In 


176 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


the wide valley region, the streams meander about in the wide allu- 
vial expanse, continually cutting on the outside of the meanders 
and shifting the channel of the stream constantly. This constant 
shifting or changing of the river channel gives no time for the in- 
cision of the stream bed, or for the building up of natural levees 
along the banks. ‘This shallowness of the channel keeps the stream 
in the easily moved sand and gravel underlying the sandy soil of 
the surface, and does not permit it to have the tougher, compact 
material for its banks. Such conditions favor bank-cutting and 
meandering. Should the stream have time to cut down into the 
more resistant material, it is likely that the bank-cutting would be 
less. The alluvial material of the valley however is deep, since the 
valley is a filled valley; probably seventy-five feet in sage below 
the present river channel. 

In the narrow valley regions, the channel does less mean- 
dering and especially in the East Fork region, where there is little 
or none. Consequently, it has remained in its present channel for 
a very long time, and has cut down into the more resistant material. 
Trees have grown along the banks and natural levees have been 
made. The channel, therefore, is deep. Perhaps the most im- 
portant factor in keeping the channel constant is the narrow winding 
valley itself. The valley in these restricted regions is a great in- 
trenched meandering gorge. The channel crosses from one side 
of the valley to the other, always keeping its outside bend against 
a precipitous limestone or sandstone cliff, with the valley always 
on the inside of the bend. This condition exists because of the 
winding valley itself. It is impossible for further meandering to 
take place, because the outside of the bends is always against a 
rocky cliff generally over a hundred feet in height. This is sufficient 
to explain the much greater depth in the constricted regions of 
the White River valleys. 

Before considering the details of bank cutting along White 
River, something should be said about the need of the preserva- 
tion of the land affected and the loss to society in general because 
of the consequent loss in production. If the present rate of in- 
crease in population continues, there will be 200,000,000 people 
in the United States by the year 1950. When we stop to con- 
sider what it means to produce twice as much as we are producing 
now, we are constrained to think of vast numbers of acres called 
into use which are not at present available. As the population 
increases, more and more food is needed; but the subsistence space 
does not increase. It is even made less, for actual room is used 





eh Aen 


ee 


KYoae TAK ee Bat 


Caarr No. 8. 





8 B\wrtt Law 


Extending from Chart 7 down East Fork to Loogootee, 






Sanat») 


Bark Cowra 
a~nbB 


SanvtBery 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 ayy 


which might otherwise be areas of production. Since the subsist- 
ence space never becomes greater, the land that is not now practical 
for production is the land that is the most desirable. Valley lands 
with their deep alluvial material are, as a rule, fertile. They form 
the cream of the land. For ages the rich soils formed on the up- 
lands by decaying vegetation and animal life have gradually accu- 
mulated in the valley lands. The vast fertile stretches of the 
Mississippi valley, one of the greatest and most fertile areas in the 
world, are perhaps the greatest asset that the American people 
have. Yet there are thousands of acres lying in idleness, waiting 
for the time to come when the population has so increased that 
these areas will be demanded for subsistence space. The time 
is coming near; already the clamor is heard in the numerous schemes 
and plans for making this land available for production. 

Let us see what it means for an acre of land to be lost by bank- 
cutting and caving. It is true that land thus cut out by the waters 
is not absolutely lost, but it is unavailable for at least ten years, 
and probably twenty years. All figuring, however, is done on 
the least number of years; but it is to be understood that double 
the loss due to the lack of production may be figured, and the result 
be as nearly correct. The coarse material cut from the outside 
of the meander is carried across the stream by cross currents and 
deposited on the lower and inner side of the meander. The finer 
material is carried on in suspension, and usually the most of it is 
deposited as silt over the valley land where the waters are relatively 
quiet. The sand and gravel bar thus made on the lower inner side 
of the meander grows larger each year, and gradually vegetation 
grows upon it. This vegetation, though scanty at first, is an im- 
portant factor in causing silt to lodge, and gradually the bar is 
built up with a layer of fertile silt or soil on top. But it takes at 
least ten years, or probably twenty, for this to take place. Our 
acre of land has been lost for ten years at least. During this 
time it could have been producing sixty bushels of corn yearly. 
At fifty cents a bushel this could have brought thirty dollars. In 
ten years three hundred dollars have been lost to society, plus the 
seventy-five dollars that the acre of land itself would bring at pres- 
ent. In figuring this, one of the cheapest crops has been used; 
but it is a crop that is now practical for such acres as are now being 
lost annually along White River. If the figures were for one of the 
more intensive crops, they would show a loss running into the 
thousands. The time is coming when the loss will be so calculated. 

Bank-cutting is not much of a problem in the constricted val- 


178 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


ley regions, and especially so in the constricted region of the East 
Fork, since the channel does little or no meandering except to 
follow the intrenched meanders themselves. Considerable bank- 
cutting occurred, however, in the constricted region of the West 
Fork. This will be explained later. When in flood stage, the water 
tends to go directly across the valley next to the sloping bluff, 
rather than follow the channel across to the other side and sweep 
around the cliff on the outside of the intrenched meander. (See 
Diagram 2.) The position where the water leaves the channel 
(‘A’ in Diagram 2) is usually low, and sometimes considerable bank- 
cutting is done. A typical instance of this kind occured in Owen 
County above Spencer, a short distance below the mouth of McCor- 
mick’s Creek. Despite the fact that trees were growing here, and 
that ballast had been hauled and dumped at the place, much cutting 
was done. But such places in themselves are rather insignificant 
in comparision to the wash below them, and the bank-cutting in 
the meanders as found in the wider portions of the valley. 

It is understood that in the wide valley regions of both forks 
of White River, the outside of nearly every meander is growing larger 
each year, and fertile soil is being undermined and carried away. 
To call attention to every meander in these regions is not the pur- 
pose of this report. A few typical illustrations will be chosen 
and sufficient detail given to enable the reader to understand the 
situation. Constant attention must be given to the charts. 

In Morgan County from near Martinsville, to the vicinity of 
Little Indian Creek below, there is a stretch of about five miles 
of river which is relatively straight. (See Chart No.2.) Damage 
done to this region was relatively slight except that due to bank- 
cutting. Attention is called to this section of the river because 
as yet the meandering is incipient. The ones started will become 
larger and larger as time goes on, and in a few years they will be 
relatively large. The damage done then will be many times what 
was done in the recent flood. The first bank-cutting in this stretch 
of the river occurred in the slight bend just north of the Vandalia 
Railroad bridge. <A strip of land from forty to sixty feet wide and 
twenty rods long was taken away. This only accentuates the bend 
here. If nothing is done to prevent the cutting here, the cutting 
will continue year after year, making the bend larger and farther 
down stream, until the grade and abutment of the railroad bridge 
will be threatened, having come within the scope of the enlarging 
meander. 

Between the railroad bridge and a small creek coming in from 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 179 


the west, the current cut across as indicated in Plate No. 2, and 
made waste land of about five acres. Some of this was badly cut, 
while the remainder was covered over with coarse gravel. The 
current of the bank-full stream was deflected to the other side of 
the river where it cut considerably into Mr. Rutledge’s land. He | 
lost perhaps a half acre of good soil. There is no doubt that this 
meander will continue to grow until it has united with the one 
below the place where the stream enters the river. Such a mean- 
der in the course of a few years will destroy several acres of land 
on the east side of the river. 

In the southwest corner of Section 12, about one-fourth acre 
was lost by bank-cutting. About as much was lost in Section 14 on 
the same side of the river. ‘These two places are typical incipient 
meanders; as yet they are small, but, as is the case with all 
meanders, they will grow larger each year. It was said that the 
lower one was started by a charge of dynamite being exploded 
near the right bank in an endeavor to kill fish. Anything that de- 
flects the current against the bank will start a meander. Cases were 
noted in which logs and other debris were so lodged as to deflect 
the current sufficiently to start a meander. 

Southwest of Paragon is a stretch of river in which great damage 
was done by bank-cutting. Chart No. 2 shows the extreme crooked- 
ness of the river at this place. Vhis extreme meandering will 
never correct itself. Although cut-offs may be made frequently, 
they are never made in nature with any degree of permanency, 
because of the little crooks left which immediately develop into 
new meanders. This place shows that a cut-off was made re- 
cently which partially corrected the most extreme meander, but 
another is already begun which in a few years will be as bad. Asa 
result of this constant meandering, a great tract of the land here, 
which ought to be worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars an 
acre, is either a sandy or a swampy waste. 

The particular damage due to bank cutting alone is as follows: 
In Section 22 opposite the large island, one acre was lost. In 
rounding the next meander on the left side of the river, three acres 
were cut from the bank. Opposite this cut is a bare gravel bar 
of about six acres. Directly north of this on the right bank in 
Section 16, three more acres were carried away. Opposite this 
cut is a gravel bar of about four acres. Three acres were also 
lost in the succeeding meander on the right bank just before reach- 
ing Burkhart Creek. Opposite is a gravel bar of about five acres. 
The next loss is below Burkhart Creek; it also consists of about 


180 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


three acres. The bar opposite this cut is at least ten acres in ex- 
tent, all of which is entirely bare of vegetation, showing that it 
has been made within the past two years. Immediately below 
this great bar the current of the channel has made another cut 
of about three acres. This is the last meander in this remarkable 
series. Thus during the last flood sixteen acres were lost within 
an air line distance of two miles. This means a loss of something 
like two thousand dollars for the land alone, to say nothing of the 
accumulating crop loss for the minimum ten years. 

The region is very susceptible to bank-cutting on account 
of being composed of loose gravel with about three feet of sandy 
soil-en top. This condition, however, is favorable for the cor- 
rection of the river channel here. It could be easily dredged out 
in any attempt to straighten the channel. The great loss con- 
stantly occurring in this region could be done away with, with less 
cost than that occasioned by the 1913 flood alone. Less than two 
miles of dredging would take the channel in a straight line from where 
it comes against the bluff in Section 22 to the straight stretch of 
the channel which leads toward the bridge in Section 20. It 
would take less than two miles on account of part of the old channel 
itself being within the straight line, and, therefore, able to serve. 
Undoubtedly this stretch of valuable valley land cannot be aban- 
doned to the ravages of such profligate meanders as now occur, 
for very long in the future. Practically five hundred acres are 
unfit for use. With the river corrected, and taken care of when 
once corrected, these five hundred acres of practically worthless 
land would be worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre 
in a very short time, to say nothing of the value to society in general 
of the amount such land might produce. A cost of two thousand 
dollars and’ a small annual outlay for taking care of incipient 
meanders would bring this practically worthless area to a selling 
value of $62,500 in a very short time. 

For four or five miles below Paragon the river is relatively 
straight, having only a few incipient meanders that should be stopped 
by all means. The damage done here was slight. Not over twelve 
acres were denuded, while much of the region was silted, enhancing 
its value considerably. | 

The region below Limestone Creek to the vicinity of Romona 
must be mentioned in this report. It is a region of meanders 
which are past the incipient stage. They are likely to become still 
larger, but the damage they are doing now approaches the maxi- 
mum. The first two little cuts (see Chart No. 3), one on each 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD oF 1913 181 


side of the river, are incipient, and the damage done by them in 
the flood was slight. They deserve attention only for what they 
are capable of becoming. These little things neglected are the 
things that sometimes become alarming because of what they 
develop into. 

In making the bend in the northern part of Section 2, the river 
has cut away as much as five acres in the past year. This land 
belongs to Mr. Benj. Gray. Mr. Gray, however, has gained as 
much land as he lost, by the river turning in the other direction 
below. The amount gained is a great bar as yet, and not equivalent 
in value to that lost. A cut-off was almost consummated, reaching 
from the bank cutting on Mr. Gray’s land to the next meander 
which turns to the northwest and leads into Section 3. If this 
cut-off should take place, it would at least eliminate one meander, 
which would be all the better, although Mr. Gray would be a heavy 
loser. The meander which leads into Section 3, cut about three 
acres from the bank during the flood, but about twenty acres have 
been lost within the last ten years. A great sand and gravel bar 
lies on the inside of each of these meanders, each consisting of 
several acres, testifying to the waste land that a meandering stream 
ean make. Without considering the two bank cuts below (just 
east of Romona) in which about three acres were lost, and the ten 
acres which were literally devastated by the over-running current 
nearby, the conditions call loudly for attention. The river could 
be straightened here, even in this bend of the valley, in such a 
manner as to eliminate the meanders. Although the valley is 
narrow, in the long run it would be much better for all concerned 
if something was done toward the end mentioned. Mr. Gray 
expressed his willingness to have this done if proper adjustments 
could be made. It appeals to reason that when sixteen acres 
are lost within one year, and within the past the conditions have 
been such that over one hundred fifty acres have been turned into 
a mere waste, some constructive measures should be taken. 

In Owen County there are two or three places that might be 
given attention, for instance just below Spencer and just east 
of Freedom; but as a whole the valley is narrow and it would be 
more or less expensive to straighten the channel, even in there 
places. There is no doubt, however, but that conditions could be 
bettered, and with little expense damage done by bank cutting and 
denudation could be greatly mitigated. 

A glance at Chart No. 4 shows that bank cutting in Greene 
County was very severe. It can be distinctly noticed that the 


182 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


bank-cutting is in those stretches of river valley where the river 
has meandered extensively. The vicinity of Worthington is striking 
for its meanders. The large irregular loop to the north, one and 
one-half miles east of Worthington, is certainly needless and could 
be corrected with a small outlay in comparison to the value of the 
land it would redeem. But it is the series of long loops parallel to 
each other south of Worthington which attract most attention. 
In these long parallel loops eighteen acres of land was lost by bank- 
cutting, and over one hundred acres so cut and denuded that it 
cannot be used for farm land for many years to come. ‘This is 
speaking of the damage done during the flood alone. Less than one 
and one-fourth miles of actual dredging would remove every one 
of these loops. The stream actually travels four miles to get one 
and one-fourth miles. If this straightening were done, there would 
be a long stretch of river from Worthington to near Bloomfield 
with the exception of one meander in Section 9, three miles north- 
west of Bloomfield. The meander which reaches westward in 
Section 33 comes against a sandstone cliff, and consequently no 
cutting occurred in rounding it. At this point the stream passes 
over sandstone in a series of rapids known as ‘Rocky Ripple.’ Another 
noticeable feature of this series of meanders is the remarkable 
width of the channel. It ranges from thirty to sixty rods in width. 

Attention has already been called to the remarkable loop just 
below Bloomfield. There was but little land lost at this place; 
perhaps not over an acre in actual bank-cutting was carried away, 
but the loop itself has caused considerable land to be practically 
worthless. The neck of the meander is badly cut and denuded; 
it was cut more the year preceding the flood than during the flood. 
The short distance across the neck of this meander and the pres- 
ence of the cliff on the left bank where the water would come 
against it in case a cut-off were made, present a practical situation 
where a cut-off could be made, thus eliminating a meander at 
little cost, much to the advantage of all concerned. 

Chart No. 5, shows the conditions of the river between Knox 
and Daviess counties. As stated before, the river between these 
counties is practically a continuous series of meanders, beginning 
in the southern part of Greene County and ending at the junction 
with the East Fork. The details of no particular place will be 
given here, but special attention is called to the upper part of Chart 
No. 5. It would seem that cut-offs are incipient in many places, 
yet not a single one was made during the flood. Two were found 
which had been made within the past few years, but two other 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 aS 


places were found in which the river, having made a cut-off several 
years before, had reverted back to its old meander again. One 
of these latter places is just west of Elnora, and the other is about 
four miles above Kdwardsport. . 

A fairly accurate estimate of the aggregate number of acres 
lost by bank cutting between these two counties during the year 
is seventy-five acres. Hundreds of acres are lying in idle sandy 
and swampy tracts within the inside bends of the numerous meanders. 
No fair estimate of less than twelve hundred acres could be made, 
entirely due to bank cutting, which has accumulated from past 
years. This land cannot be reclaimed short of straightening the 
channel, nor can the continued bank-cutting be stopped or miti- 
gated with anything less. As yet this paper cannot do more than 
eall attention to this phase of loss to society in general; but as has 
been intimated before, a loss of something lke $300,000 in ten years 
between these two counties must be considered in the near future. 

Of that part of the East Fork traversed, the only bank-cut- 
ing amounting to any considerable damage was found in Jackson 
County. (See Chart No.7.) Even here it was not severe. From 
Brownstown to Sparksville, the only part of the East Fork in the 
extensive valley coming within the notice of the writers, there were 
not over twelve acres lost by bank-cutting. The channel from 
above Brownstown to near Medora is relatively straight except 
for two rather large meanders. Consultation of the chart. will 
show that these could be remedied with comparative ease. The 
one between Brownstown and Vallonia almost effected a cut-off 
during the flood, yet there would necessarily be considerable dredging 
before the channel could be straightened at this point. The other 
meander, opposite Vallonia, would require considerable more dredg- 
ing for its elimination. 

Below Medora several meanders are well started, which will 
continue to grow larger; considerable damage by bank-cutting may 
be expected from these in the future. Between the junction of the 
Muscatatuck with White River and Sparksville, a series of remark- 
able meanders occurs. Considerable bank-cutting was done here, 
with the exception of the backward turning loop from Section 17 to 
16, known as the ‘Devil’s Elbow.’ At this place the river runs 
into the bluff, and, of course, can do no bank-cutting. There 
are places across this series of meanders where the river might 
be crossed three times within a distance of a little over a quarter 
of a mile. 

Charts Nos. 8 and 9 show the river in the restricted valley 





&. Fic. 42. Landslide Tthat obstructed interurban and _ public 
Martinsville. 





Fig. 43. Landslide, Martin County. 


roads, 


three 


and a half miles north of 


spreonnenienaosceny 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 185 


region in which no bank-cutting occurred. In this region but little 
damage was done except that done to improvements and by de- 
nudation. As to improvements, there are but few to be mentioned 
outside of what were taken up in connection with levees and embank- 
ments. The steel bridge at Rivervale was destroyed, as shown in 
Figure 34. The dam across the river at Williams aroused much 
speculation in the minds of the writers as to its probable effect; 
but on careful investigation, absolutely no damage could be traced 
to it as a causative agent. It does, however, cause the water to 
be ponded as far back as the pumping station at Bedford, thereby. 
making the banks lower than they were before. This will cause 
overflows to be rather imminent in the lower ponded region. The 
water even at low water mark, is ponded in the little streams which 
enter the river. This is well illustrated by the little stream coming 
in from the north just above Williams. (See Figure 41.) 

It has been noticed that bank-cutting occurred in the con- 
stricted valley region of the West Fork, yet with much less intensity 
than in the wide valley regions. But it is a striking fact that none 
occurred in the constricted region of the East Fork. Why should 
it occur on the West Fork and not occur on the East Fork in similar 
valley conditions? Primarily, it is because of the intrenched mean- 
ders, and the stream’s nice adjustment to them. The stream sweeps 
in great curves, just as the valley itself meanders, and keeps its 
outside bank a constant cliff which is not noticeably affected. 
In the West Fork region, the intrenched meanders are more or less 
irregular and broken and the stream is only rarely adjusted to 
them. The channel, therefore, meanders about over its narrow 
flood plain, doing considerable bank-cutting. A study of Charts 
Nos. 4 and 8, will verify the above statements. 

Of that part of White River valley traversed in the investi- 
gation of the flood conditions, an aggregate of one hundred sixty 
acres was lost by bank-cutting. This total is fairly accurate. Figur- 
ing at the low price of seventy-five dollars an acre, $12,000 were 
lost in land. ‘The value of these one hundred sixty acres for the 
ten years lost to the State would be $48,000. This makes a total of 
$60,000. Since bank-cutting is relatively the same each year, 
on account of its taking place under any condition above low water 
mark, it might be estimated that ten times (twenty times is perhaps 
nearer correct) this loss is continually placed upon society on ac- 
count of bank-cutting. This would make a total of $600,000. From 
the proportion of the amount of water carried by other streams, 
ignoring the minor streams, to that of White River, (the part in- 


6—1424 


186 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


vestigated), their proportionate length, and counting bank-cut- 
ting as one-half as much in the northern part of the State, on account 
of the relative ability of the soil of the glacial region to withstand 
bank-cutting, a fairly accurate estimate of the total bank-cutting 
of the entire State during the flood of 1913, would be eight hundred 
fifty acres. This is not counting the Ohio River at all. The esti- 
mate in land loss for the State would be $63,750: ‘The loss to 
society because of lack of production for the minimum ten years 
would be $255,000. The total loss, then, for the year of the flood 
would be $318,750. The total loss to society for the entire State 
(figuring the loss as accumulating for the minimum ten years) 
would be $38,185,500. But this total estimate is far too low. This 
is figured on a total ten-year loss due to bank-cutting of 8,500 acres, 
which is probably fairly accurate, but there is far more land than 
that lying idle due to bank-cutting. It was estimated that at least 
1,200 acres were idle due.to bank cutting between Daviess County 
and Knox County alone. It is evident, then, that the total estimate 
is far too low; an estimate of from two to five times the amount 
would be more nearly correct. 

Now, since sufficient details concerning bank-cutting along 
White River have been given to get a grasp of the situation, and 
since some idea of the immediate and cumulative loss is before 
us, let us consider what might be done either in stopping such 
a loss, or in mitigating it. The writers are not of the opinion that 
the entire river channel should be straightened nor any large part 
of it, but they do think it not only feasible, but advisable to straighten 
certain portions of it, as has been brought out in the above dis- 
cussion. Many farmers who own land in the valley were consulted, 
and the majority were of the opinion that the river channel] could 
be profitably straightened in many places. They think that the 
river should be improved at the expense of the people that are 
benefited. Their annual losses would in a very short time be enough 
to pay for the improvement of the channel; and if a small tax were 
levied on all of the landowners in the region coming within the 
scope of the benefit, to furnish funds to keep the banks protected 
where there is a tendency for them to be washed by the current, 
and to keep the channel free from obstructions that are liable to 
cause the current to be deflected against the bank, the situation 
would be practically within control. As has been emphasized, 
not only the land which is lost annually by bank cutting might be 
saved by preserving a straight channel, but the waste land already 
made by bank cutting could be redeemed. This straightening of 











Fig. 44. Montgomery barn, west of Williams, showing river 

















Fia. 45. Montgomery barn, water partially subsided. 


188 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


the channel would cause the velocity to be increased, which in turn 
would lower the channel, making it possible for it to carry more 
water in times of flood without overflowing the banks. A de- 
structive flood in the growing season would cause a damage equal 
to the amount necessary for such improvements as mentioned above. 
However, destructive floods in the growing season are not the rule 
in the White River valley, but they are a possibility which is star- 
ing the farmers in the face all of the time, and there is no way of 
predicting just when the valley land will be flooded. In another 
place the writers have shown that the majority of the floods in the 
Ohio valley occur during the first four months of the year; but that 
does not hinder the flood waters from cutting into the banks, or 
washing the soil from the flood plain. One farmer pointed out 
the fact that in one way, at least, the floods that come the first 
four months are more destructive to the soil than those that come 
in the dry summer months. If the ground is not frozen when 
a flood comes during January, February, March or April, the ground 
is looser than it would be in the summer months, and hence more 
easily washed. Freezing and thawing are the causes of this loose- 
ness of the ground. In the summer months the ground is lkely 
to be dried out and to be harder and less easily eroded. The ground 
that is under cultivation during the summer months, of course, 
will be badly washed. An overflow at any time of the year is sure 
to cause a large amount of damage, but by straightening the channel 
the increased fall will cause the current to cut the channel deeper, 
thus lessening the need of levees, and carrying the water off in a 
much shorter time. 

But straightening the channel does not stop bank-cutting. It 
may mitigate it for a short time, but if that is all that is done, in 
a short time conditions would be as bad as before. As has been 
said, the current must not be allowed to come against the bank 
in such a manner as to start a meander. In a straight stretch of 
the river let no meanders get started. If they by some means 
occur, steps should immediately be taken to keep them from growing 
larger. Many places came under the notice of the writers where 
rock had been thrown along the bank to prevent further bank 
cutting. These banks, riprapped thus with refuse rock, were not 
cut in the least by the current. At other places, piling had been 
thrown down and brush and other debris packed in behind. Below 
Spencer, in a very decided meander, rock jetties had been extended 
out in the river some twelve or fifteen feet. Rock was also thrown 
on the bank to prevent the current from cutting around the jetty. 


STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1 189 


These, too, were very effective, and relatively inexpensive. Any 
of these methods could be reinforced by planting trees along the 
bank, and these after a few years would protect the bank very ef- 
fectively. Sycamores and willows are undoubtedly the best trees to 
plant, as they both have an extensive root system and grow very 
rapidly. The writers are of the opinion that tree planting should 
go hand in hand with the above measures. 


LANDSLIDES DuE To EXCESSIVE RAINFALL 


Professor Culbertson at the Indiana Academy of Science, 
at Indianapolis, October 24 and 25, 1913, in his report on the flood 
conditions of southeastern Indiana, shows that the continued 
heavy rainfall caused the soil on the steeper slopes to creep and 
slide to a considerable extent. Landslides in White River drainage 
basin caused very little damage. Figure 42 shows a small land- 
slide that occurred about four miles north of Martinsville. Here 
a considerable pile of earth slid down and obstructed the public 
road and the interurban track. As can be seen in the plate, small 
trees were growing in this portion of earth that slid into the public 
road. Whether growing trees have a tendency to cause or aid in 
the development of landslides by permitting the water to pene- 
trate into the ground more easily, the writers are not able to say. 
It seems that trees with extensive roots would help to hold the soil 
from slipping. 

Figure 43 shows where the soil has slid on a steep Knobstone 
hill, in the same locality. This particular part of the hill was free 
from trees. Other parts of the hillside that were steeper but upon 
which trees were growing were free from landslides. On the whole, 
it seems that it would be better to permit forests to grow on the 
steeper hillsides, especially those that are too steep to farm; for a 
removal of the trees will surely help along erosion. In neither of 
the above cases were there more than very small trees and shrubs 
to protect the soil. 


SHORTENING OF THE COURSE OF BEAN BLOSSOM CREEK 


Bean Blossom Creek flows into the West Fork of White River 
below the Monon Railroad bridge at Gosport. It is of minor 
importance, but it is interesting to note that the course of this 
creek will be shortened by at least 500 feet in the near future. By 
looking at Chart No. 3, the relation of the creek to White River 


190 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


is seen at a glance. At present there are some 15 or 18 feet of 
land between the waters of the two streams, 500 feet above the 
present mouth of Bean Blossom. 


RECONSTRUCTIONAL MEASURES AND THEIR Cost 


The investigation of the flood results, in itself, gave only an 
idea of the amount of damage done, with a bare guess as to the 
probable cost of replacing the structures damaged or entirely de- 
stroyed. Accordingly, a little more than a year after the flood 
a second investigation was made with the end in view of ascertaining 
the cost to the counties concerned of reconstructing and repairing 
roads and bridges, the cost to the towns due to flood damage, and 
the cost to the railroads in rebuilding impaired or destroved struc- 
tures. It must be understood that this investigation could not 
bring the exact costs or expenses incurred by the different bodies, 
due to the flood alone, to an exact total, because more or less repair 
work would have been done regardless of the flood; because all the 
reconstruction work is not yet complete; and because only rough 
estimates could be procured on a greater part of the work. No 
attempt was made to ascertain some of the greatest losses, such 
as those occurring to individuals personally, and to corporations, 
including loss in traffic to railroads, and losses due to idleness 
of factories on account of the lack of material, etc. The figures 
given refer strictly to objective measures. The detailed condi- 
tions of practically all of the embankments and bridges are given 
in the discussion of levees and embankments and will not be re- 
peated here. Attention is called to that part of the discussion 
for such details. 

Morgan County, as has been brought out in the part dealing 
with levees and embankments, was a heavy loser on account of the 
flood. The public road and grade and the approaches to the bridge 
at Waverly were rebuilt at a cost of $1,200. (See Figure 21, for 
the condition immediately after the flood.) At Henderson bridge, 
where great damage was done to the high public road embankment 
across the valley, the cost went far into the thousands. It was 
found necessary to build another span to the bridge one hundred 
seventy-five feet in length, where the current had widened the 
channel on the south side. This span of bridge cost $9,000. The 
high grade was replaced as it was before, at a cost of $3,800. As 
has been said on a preceding page, the damage here was almost 
entirely due to the insufficiency of the opening under the bridge. 





Fig. 46. Montgomery barn after the water had withdrawn. The water washed a hole under the corner 
sufficient to wreck the barn. 





Fia. 47. Power plant at Williams, Ind. 


192 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


This condition has been remedied by the new span of bridge, making 
the opening at least one hundred feet wider than it was before the 
flood. The passage way under the bridge now seems to be sufficient 
for any future flood approximating the last one. 

Outside of the immediate White River valley, the county had 
expenses totaling $8,000. A bridge across Scott’s Creek, above 
Martinsville, four miles from the river, cost $3,500. The grade 
across White Lick Creek, west of Mooresville was repaired at a 
cost of $700. Elsewhere over the county the repair work amounted 
to $3,800. Thus the total expense to the county itself was $20,000. 

The road leading northwest from Martinsville across White 
River valley was washed out. The part between the river and the 
city of Martinsville, a stretch of 3,900 feet, has been replaced by 
pavement. This structure is undoubtedly flood proof. Pavement 
brick slushed with cement has been laid upon an eight-inch con- 
crete bed. Curbing on a level with the pavement has been sunk 
three feet into the ground on each side. Cement sidewalks three 
feet wide have been placed on each side of the curbing. The entire 
structure is more than thirty-three feet wide. It was built by 
Washington Township and the city of Martinsville at a cost of 
$20,000. (See figure 47.) 

It was found almost impossible to get the exact cost to the 
railroads of their repair and construction work within the area 
investigated. The amounts given, therefore, are estimated; they 
are rather conservative, as the writers have no intention of exag- 
gerating the actual conditions and losses. Mr. Carmichael, section 
foreman of the section west of Martinsville on the Vandalia Rail- 
road, estimated that the cost to put back the grade and track of 
the one and one-half miles washed out, was $10,000, and that the 
one and one-half miles north of Martinsville cost an equal amount. 
The Interurban Line was injured as much, if not more, than the 
Vandalia Railroad north of Martinsville; therefore, a safe estimate 
of the expense to the Interurban Company would be $10,000. 

The city of Martinsville itself suffered considerably during 
the flood, since the water ran swiftly through the main streets. 
No houses were actually carried away, although the water was in 
several hundred of them. Damage to the furniture could not be 
estimated unless a house to house canvass was made, and even then it 
could only be approximate. Mr. J. W. Anderson, the present mayor, 
estimated that the expense of the city in taking care of the people, 
in feeding them during the flood, in cleaning up the streets after 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 193 


the flood had subsided, and in paving a small stretch of one street 
that was torn up, was not less than $10,000. 

This completes the items of cost coming within the scope 
of Morgan County. The total estimated expenditure of all! the 
corporations which were injured by the flood was $80,000. This 
is perhaps as accurate as it is possible to get at present. 

Owen County was exceedingly fortunate in the matter of damage 
to county structures. No county bridges or road-grades were 
washed out in the White River region. The grade and approach 
to the river bridge at Spencer was repaired at a cost of $800, and 
the approach to the bridge at Freedom was repaired at a cost of 
$100. This total of $400 is rather small in comparison to the cost 
in several other counties. 

The railroads in the county, however, were not so fortunate 
as the county. The estimated cost to the Monon at Gosport was 
not less than $8,000 in rebuilding the half-mile of grade and track 
and in repairing the injured pier at the bridge. The Vandalia 
in Owen County was not injured very much in any one place. In 
the ‘Narrows’ above Spencer, some of the track was turned over 
and the grade slightly washed. A small portion of the grade and 
track was washed at Freedom. The estimated cost to the company 
to repair the above damage is $5,000. 

The town of Spencer was flooded in the part next to the river. 
Little damage was done outside of wetting furniture. Altogether, 
four houses were moved from their foundations; one house across 
the river was carried entirely away. This private loss was in the 
neighborhood of $2,000. The cost to the town of cleaning up the 
streets after the flood, in repairing sidewalks, and other incidentals 
was about $1,000. These estimates were given by Mr. Steven 
Summers, a member of the town board. The total estimated 
loss in the entire county was, therefore, $16,000, a small amount 
as compared with the preceding county. 

Mr. C. H. Jennings, Auditor of Greene County, gave the 
total cost to the county in repair of roads, rebuilding of bridges 
and grades, etc., as $40,000. Of this amount, $10,000 was spent for 
bridges. The county bridge west of Bloomfield was being repaired 
at the time of the flood, and several hundred dollars damage was 
done which had to be made good by the contractor. Special atten- 
tion was given to the county road-grade west of Bloomfield. This 
grade was repaired at a cost of $2,300, but it was graded down two 
feet lower that it was before the flood. On top of this grade has 


194 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


been placed a concrete pavement eleven inches thick, twenty feet 
wide, and four thousand four hundred feet long. This pavement 
cost the county $38,300. This embankment across the valley is 
built on a weter level line, about seven feet above the valley 
land at the bluff and twenty-five feet above it near the river. 
It will average perhaps twelve feet above the valley land. There’ 
is nothing to protect the embankment but the pavement on top. 
Should the water rise approximately as high as it did in 19138, the 
water would pour over the embankment its entire length and under- 
mine the concrete on the lower side. In order to make this embank- 
ment flood proof, some sort of an apron must be made on the lower 
side to prevent the water from cutting under the pavement. This 
undoubtedly should be done or the present structure is in serious 
danger. The cost of building a cement apron on the lower side of 
the embankment would be probably as much as has already been 
expended upon it, but it certainly seems necessary. Such a struc- 
ture is far more in danger of destruction than one built on a level 
with the valley as is the case at Martinsville. 

The grade at Newberry has been rebuilt and the abutments of 
the small bridges replaced. 

The town of Worthington was inundated on its western side by 
the overflow from Eel River. No houses were washed away, but a 
great many were badly flooded, ruining much furniture and house- 
hold goods, thus causing considerable personal loss. The loss of 
the C. & E. I. R. R. was about $1,200, where the flood waters broke 
over the embankment allowing the western part of Worthington to 
be flooded. The C. & E. I. R. R. was injured at two other places 
in Greene County. About one-half mile of track and grade was 
taken out near where it crosses Lattas Creek, northwest of Bloom- 
field, and below the river bridge north of Newberry over a mile of 
track and trestle was taken out. The estimated cost of repairing 
these two places is $7,000. 

The I. C. R. R. with its long stretch of high trestle work across 
the valley west of Bloomfield received but little damage. (See 
Figures 26 and 27.) An estimate of $2,000 would be rather high. 
But the Monon Branch received severe damage. The estimated 
cost of repairing it is $7,000, and it is yet in a very bad condition. 

The total estimated expenditure for all the structures in Greene 
County and the repair work is $57,200. 

Daviess County itself sustained but little loss in the White 
River region. A bridge in Washington Township which had not 

been completed was injured some, and the loss fell on the Vincennes 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 195 


Bridge Company. The great loss in Daviess County was received 
by the B. & O. R. R. Co. It is impossible to get more than an 
approximate estimate of what it cost to replace the bridge across 
the river, four and one-half miles west of Washington. Nearly 
a hundred men were employed for over eight months. It took 
nearly all summer to build the pier in the middle of the river. This 
pier is built on bed rock sixty-five feet below the surface of the 
water; at its base it is forty-five feet wide, and is long enough on 
top for a double track. The butments of the new bridge were 
set back some twenty feet, making the opening under it some 
forty feet wider than formerly. The new bridge is approximately 
six hundred feet in length. This bridge could not: have cost the 
B. & O. R. R. Co. any less than $100,000, and may have cost much 
more. A mile and a quarter east of the river bridge is ‘Blue Hole,’ 
where about four hundred feet of track and trestle went out, and 
with it a train which was being used in placing sand bags on the 
grade between there and the river. The waters must have rushed 
through this opening with tremendous speed and force. The hole, 
for it is a hole, is 350 feet wide, 700 feet long, and 40 feet deep. In 
the rebuilding of the trestle, carload after carload of rock ballast 
was dumped into the place, so that now it shows above the water 
under the trestle. The engine that went down in the hole was 
afterwards raised and now is in service in the yards at Washington. 
‘Blue Hole’ was started in the flood of 1875, and has given more 
or less trouble ever since. It was made about twice as large during 
the last flood as it was before. Evidently, it cost the B. & O. R. 
R. Co., several thousand dollars this last year, no less than $6,000, 
considering the large squad of men they had hunting for two weeks 
for the bodies of the men drowned in the flood. 

The total estimated expenditure, then, by the B. & O. R. R. 
Co. in Daviess County is $106,000, and it was probably much more. 
The bridge replaced, however; is much better than the old one. 
The extra forty feet opening will be a great help, but it would 
undoubtedly have been much better and safer to have had the 
opening made much wider through the use of trestle work. The 
grade through the valley was so high that the water never got above 
it at any place, but was forced to go through the few narrow openings. 
The concentrated force of the waters is what caused the damage at 
the river bridge and at ‘Blue Hole.’ 

The C..& E. I. R. R. Co. lost about one-half of the bridge 
on the East Fork, between Washington and Petersburg. As yet 
they have not replaced it, but are carrying on traffic over a tem- 


196 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


porary trestle-work. The cost of building a bridge here would 
be much less than the one west of Washington. The river flows 
over bed-rock at this place; it is near the bluff line. A bridge could 
be built easily for $50,000. 

Martin County will be considered next. The repair of county 
structures was limited to the grade and sidewalks in West Shoals 
in the White River region. The expenditure here was $300. The 
town of Shoals itself suffered more than any other town in the area 
investigated. Forty-four houses were moved from their foundations, 
eleven of which were carried down the river. Nearly all of these 
houses were situated in the old valley (see special plate), east of 
Shoals, where the water swept around the town, washing out the 
B. & O. R. R. grade. None of these houses were fine residences. 
Hon. H. Q. Houghton, who was chairman of the Relief Committee, 
estimated that the entire personal loss was $30,000. The Relief 
Committee used $4,500 in replacing, remodeling, and refurnishing 
the houses. Some kind of a house was replaced in the place of each 
one that had been moved by the flood waters, with four exceptions. 
The families of these four showed no interest or disposition to help, 
and were passed by. 

The B. & O. R. R. Co. lost about one and one-half miles of 
grade and track at Shoals and some two miles below. The re- 
placing of this grade and track cost not less than $10,000. The 
grade was rebuilt in a veritable levee across the old valley in the 
eastern part of Shoals, ready to be washed out again by the next 
flood approximating the recent one. 

The entire value of all that was lost within the White River 
region of Martin County is estimated at $40,300. This includes 
the estimated $30,060 loss to the inhabitants for whom $4,500 was 
spent in replacing their structures. But since the $30,000 loss is 
the ultimate loss, these figures are counted. 

Lawrence county was far from being fortunate in the way of 
losses to county and railroad structures. The county bridge at 
Rivervale was replaced at a cost of $16,484. The span added to 
the south side of the bridge below Bedford on the Bedford and 
Mitchell pike cost $4,250. The bridge, which was carried fifty 
feet up stream by the rapid rising back waters, about one-half mile 
from the river up Guthrie Creek, cost $3,305. The Salt Creek 
bridge cost $5,150. The cost to the county in the way of road repair 
on account of loss due to the flood was about $3,000. The total 
expenditure of the county itself, therefore, was $32,190. There 





Fig. 48. Power plant at Williams when the’ flood_was' highest, 31.12"feet above the crest of the dam 
March 29. 





Fic. 49. East end of the dam at Williams. The hole was cut by the flood in January and was made very 
little larger by the March flood. 


ARES PA oo 


198 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


were other expenses, however, incidental to the reconstruction. 
work. These figures are merely contract prices. 

The B. & O. R. R. Co. had one-half mile of track and grade 
washed out at Rivervale. The bridge remained intact. The 
estimated cost of reconstruction here is $4,000. The branch line 
of the B. & O. from Rivervale to Bedford also met with considerable 
damage where it crosses the river below Bedford. Over one-half 
mile of track was removed and about two hundred feet of grade. 
The total expenditure on the entire branch was perhaps $4,000. 

The Monon was a heavy loser, both in the White River stretch 
and in the Salt Creek region. At White River below Bedford, about 
one-half mile of track was taken away, a small part of the grade 
was washed out, and the bridge was slightly injured. The cost 
here was probably $3,000. In the Salt Creek region north of 
Bedford about a mile of track was taken out and the grade was 
badly injured. The cost in this region was not less than $4,000. 

Thus, the entire estimated amount spent in the confines of 
Lawrence County for reconstructional purposes was $47,190. 

Jackson County, with its wide valley expanse in the region 
above Brownstown and Seymour, and the valley of Muscatatuck 
River, was the heaviest sufferer in the way of expenditure for recon- 
structional measures. Practically two hundred miles of pike roads 
were badly damaged and some fifteen miles were entirely destroyed. 
Mr. Albert Luedtke, County Auditor and a former contractor, 
estimates that the county will be forced to spend $50,000 for roads, 
and $25,000 for bridges. He gives these figures as the lowest 
estimate that could be made. These figures include the $6,000 for 
the construction of a concrete road from the lower edge of Browns- 
town to the river, a stretch of a little over a half mile. This road 
will be similar to the concrete road at Bloomfield with the ex- 
ception that it will be built on a level with the valley and instead 
of being built on an embankment or levee. This will undoubtedly 
be much better, as it will be flood proof. The waters can pass 
over it, and have no opportunity to do it any damage. | 

The B. & O. R. R. was a heavy sufferer in Jackson County. 
About one and one-fourth miles of grade and track was washed 
out at Medora. The estimated cost of replacing this is $8,000. 
The pier of the river bridge was washed out, and it was found neces- 
sary to build an entirely new bridge. The steel structure of the 
old bridge is still lying in the river. The estimated cost of this 
bridge is not less than $50,000. Much trouble was experienced 
in putting in the pier and the cost may have been much more. }., 


VEY 
STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVE 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 199 


‘The Southeastern Indiana Railroad suffered considerably in 
the stretch across the wide valley west of Seymour. Not less 
than three miles of track was washed out, several short stretches 
of trestle taken away, and the grade badly washed. The damage 
approximated $20,000. 

The town of Medora suffered considerably on account of the 
water getting into the houses and damaging household property. No 
houses were moved or injured otherwise. The personal damage to 
the town does not come within the scope of this part of the report, 
since it treats of the reconstruction work mainly. Furthermore, the 
personal damage is very difficult to estimate in dollars and cents. 

The total estimated expenditures in Jackson County reached 
higher than in any other county coming within the area of inves- 
tigation. They amount to a total of $152,000. 

The expenditures for reconstructional work in the various 
counties investigated in brief are as follows. 7 





BTEC ieee eee Aer USN EES Je Easy, lo tit tn wh tae $80,000 
Cer Ry oe ey, We 2 ed Yr eS re 16,300 
COCR TC I ae ls ni ye RS nt eM. yas Ah ho 8 57,200 
Ly LE See eee Sem AM SEI oA Se ed ac das dts © Adon ken ated 106,000 
BV AT GMS Ma aoe ee Ween Mee Res ue ea eens eg 40,300 
PRU LOU CES; Aer at rh PERNE SS SE nies Zo Shee 9 ah Abe wie 47,190 
UNG STON Con arr nog aor ine DTG, 9, ok ge ate de 152,000 

ANGLES SORES ew a Wee ee a re eee ee $498,990 


Practically ninety-five per cent of the above half-million dollars 
was spent by corporations. While this money was a direct loss 
to the corporations and the people as a whole, such a loss is not 
at all to be compared to the personal losses that were suffered along 
the river by the private individuals. The losses to the individual 
land owners, as has been partially brought out elsewhere in this 
report, mean far more, so far as actual suffering is concerned. Loss 
of crops, live stock, household goods, and buildings gave individual 
injuries that in some cases will never be recovered from. It is 
to be lamented that such losses cannot be much more than guessed 
at; and again should they be approximated, they would seem small 
in dollars and cents as compared to the losses that have been given. 
They were individual, and generally to individuals who could ill 
afford any loss at all. Renters in some parts of the valley lost 
practically all that they had. Everyday laborers in the towns, 
such as Shoals, lost practically all that they possessed. The things 
in themselves may seem very little, but to the individuals, their 
loss left the future very dark and gloomy indeed. 


200 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


RELATION BETWEEN THE FLOOD AND SICKNESS 


The advent of any considerable flood upon a town or city is 
sure to cause a great amount of anxiety, for in the past it has always 
brought with it an increase of disease and sickness. This state- 
ment is borne out in the newspaper clippings of the preceding 
pages which were written after the flood of August, 1875. It has 
been impossible to find out whether or not there was an increase in 
disease after that flood, but such must have been the ordinary 
consequence of a flood, or the suggestions referred to would not 
have been made at that time. 

Several letters were sent out to the health officers of the various 
cities that were partly inundated, asking about the sickness that 
occurred as a result of the recent flood. Some of the representative 
letters received in reply are herein duplicated. It was with con- 
siderable surprise that the tenor of these letters was noted. It was 
fully expected that there would be a notable increase in disease in the 
parts of these cities and towns that were inundated. The results 
were just the opposite. The possibilities were there, but the health 
officers arose to the occasion and clearly demonstrated that disease 
of a contagious nature can be wiped out of existence even under the 
most adverse conditions due to a flood. Would it not be a good 
investment for such action to be taken even when there are no floods? 
Human life is as dear at one time as another. It is shown that it can 
be conserved, hence it is our duty to take measures along that 
line, and make even more progress than we have made in the past. 
If a man is imprisoned in a mine, there is no limit to the amount of 
money that will be spent to rescue him. The last flood showed 
that there are many lives lost each year by disease that could be 
saved, if such energy as was exerted after the flood were to be con- 
tinued for the same length of time each spring. It appears that 
this is one of the most important facts that has been brought to 
light by the investigation of the flood conditions of White River, 
and it is hoped that a little of this sort of energy will be spent each 
spring in cleaning up the poorer districts of our towns and cities. 
As a rule, the flooded districts are inhabited by the poorer class 
of people, living under improper hygienic conditions. If these con- 
ditions could be righted each spring, much less disease would pre- 
vail, and loss of life would be considerably curtailed. 


NOBLESVILLE, IND., December 5, 1913. 
Dear Sir: 
Your favor of 4th inst. at hand. Immediately following the flood and 
for some time after, we had a force of men working to clean the district over 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 201 


which the water had ranged. Free disinfection was given in all parts of the 
city and everyone was compelled to clean cellars subject to the approval of 
the Health Department before they might return to their homes. In ad- 
dition, free typhoid immunization was offered and taken advantage of. | Con- 
sequently there was reported during the month of April, only one contagious 
disease, namely scarlatina, and that could in no way be attributed to the flood. 
As to the general state of health following the flood, my inquiries among the 
physicians lead me to believe that in the city there was little or no effect. 
Typhoid has been a minus quantity with us this year and the consensus of 
of opinion among all is that the most that could possibly be attributed to the 
flood in this vicinity only includes a few attacks of tonsilitis with the conse- 
quent rheumatism. Across the river from the city have occurred two cases 
of diphtheria that might possibly be connected with it. 

Any further information that I may be able to give will be tendered very 
willingly if you will only let me know. 

Yours most sincerely, 


H. H. Tuomrson, M.D. 


SHoALs, [Np1ANna, Nov. 29, 1918. 
Dear Sir: 

In reply to your inquiry I beg to say that there was not as much sickness 
following the last spring flood as was usual in this community in previous 
years. I am unable to account for the unusual healthful condition that pre- 
vailed here all summer in comparision to other years. 

Respectfully yours, 


Cuas. E. STone, 
County Health Commissioner. 


INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, Dec. 5, 19138. 
Dear Sir: 

There has been less sickness in the flood district during the last year 
than at any time for several years. 

Diphtheria, scarlet fever and other infectious diseases have been fewer 
this year than for the past two years. During the fall months, typhoid fever, 
the disease which you would naturally expect to make its appearance as a 
result of the unsanitary conditions left by the flood, is not as prevalent in 
that district as in other parts of the city. If fact, all sickness shows a lower 
rate in that part of the city than during the previous two years. This may 
be attributed to the fact that a concentrated effort was made to clean thorough- 
ly the flooded district and leave it in as perfect sanitary condition as possible. 

When we finished the work, I made the remark that West Indianapolis 
was in a better condition than it was before the flood. I believe that the 
statistics on disease in that district would bear this out. 

Yours very truly, 


H. G. Morgan, 
(Health Officer.) 


7—1424 


202 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


SPENCER, INDIANA, December 4, 1913. 
Dear Sir: 

Replying to your inquiry of this date, I will say that there was very 
little sickness occurring in this community that could be attributed to the flood. 
In the four months immediately following the flood there was less sickness 
in Spencer, than for the corresponding time in any year for the last twenty 
years. 

Very respectfully, 
ALLEN Pierson, M.D., 
(County Health Officer.) 


FLoop oF 1875 COMPARED WITH THE RECENT Marcu FLoop 


The flood of 1875 came in the last days of July and the first 
days of August. It was of about the same height as the recent flood. 
Coming in August, it caught the crops, corn, wheat and oats, and 
caused much more damage than the March freshet. ‘There are 
many conflicting reports of the relative stages of the two floods. <A 
number of reports showed that the August flood of 1875, was twelve 
or eighteen inches higher than the March freshet. About the same 
number showed that the last flood was as high, or higher. These 
conflicting reports may be explained as follows: During the last 
thirty-eight years there have been many obstructions, such as public 
roads being graded up, interurban grades, and steam railway grades. 
In each case the man above the obstruction declared that the March 
flood was the higher while the man below the obstruction was very 
sure that the flood of August, 1875, was the higher. 

The reports between the obstructions showed that the two 
floods were about the same height. By the occurrence of the recent 
flood in March, there was no space taken up with green vegetation 
and growing crops. There is much less timber in the White River 
bottom now than thirty-eight years ago. So, on the whole, there 
seems to have been considerable more water passing down the West 
Fork last spring than in August, 1875. The flood of 1875, on the 
East Fork was not in any way to be compared with the recent freshet, 
which was from seven to ten feet higher than any previous high 
waters. 

The following newspaper reports will give some idea as to 
the conditions of the floods: 


(Special to the Indianapolis Journal. ) 


MARTINSVILLE, IND., August 6, 1875.—The waters here are subsiding. 
White River is slowly falling, but it will be several days yet before it is within 
its banks. Running as it does through the best portion of the country—through 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 203 


the great corn and hog section—its damage to our farmers and people is im- 
mense. Acres of fine growing corn and wheat in the shock that a few days 
ago gladdened the hearts of the grangers who possessed it, are ruined and 
wholly lost. All the creeks and other small streams have been flood high, 
inundating whole farms, thereby destroying crops, carrying away fences, and 
doing other damage. Many of our roads have been rendered impassable 
and the bottom land stripped of the fences. The loss of Morgan County by 
rain and flood will not fall below a million dollars, and all kinds of trade and 
business will be stagnated for the next twelve months. The Vincennes Rail- 
way here and for several miles above and below, is badly damaged and it will 
be several days before it will be in condition for the regular running of the trains. 
Large quantities of old corn stored near the river have been washed away 
and otherwise damaged by the raging waters. The wheat, oats and hay in 
the highland have been badly damaged by the late rains. 


(Special to the Indianapolis Journal.) 


SHoats, INp., August 3, 1875.—The rains in Randolph County, which 
from the head waters of the East Fork, raised the river from ten to twelve 
feet, in many places filling the banks to their utmost capacity. The storms 
Saturday night and Sunday, in which water fell in Martin County to the depth 
of four inches, have completed the disaster. It is useless to speak of the crops: 
they were unusually promising, and now they are destroyed. As a result 
of the inundation the sandstone bluff on which Shoals is built, is an island. 

Indications are that the river once ran east of the town, along the level 
bottom lands. It is supposed that some convulsion of nature changed it to 
the west side. The water is over the site of the old channel. To make this 
more complete, an ambitious creek joins with its waters. Fields of corn 
and wheat are covered, fences are washed away, and the lives of the residents 
are endangered. Ingress and egress are to be obtained only in canoes or on 
the railroad. 

It is feared that the back waters in time will be productive of much sick- 
ness. Thousands of acres of land are covered with water in this portion of 
the county, the water reaching to the branches of the trees in the forests, 
in the bottom land. The water is still rising at the rate of an inch per hour. 

In January, 1847, in June, 1856, and in September, 1866, the East Fork 
was exceedingly high, but the greatest damage attends the present overflow 
on account of the crops. 


(Indianapolis Journal, August 7, 1875.) 


No one who has not passed over the track of the late flood can form an 
adequate idea of the vegetable decay that it must produce. All along the 
river and its tributaries the weeds, as well as the good part of the crops are 
‘cooked black,’ wilted, and sure to rot in the hot sun and remaining moisture 
so fast as to create a general miasm. Already the black water of the ‘Old 
Bayou,’ next to the Vandalia Railroad is covered with that thick green scum 
that says, malaria, chills and fever, as plain as if every shoot of fungus were 
a tongue. This is but one of a myriad ponds left by the retreating waters. 
A great deal of corn is washed or broken down, and its decomposition, as 
well as that of the overturned oats and grass, and the soaked logs, and refilled 
swamps, will swell the dangers of infection. 


204 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


(Special to the Indianapolis Journal.) 


SHoats, Inp., August 9, 1875.—White River at this place has been higher 
at this time than at any other rise. The back water has entirely surrounded 
Shoals, as previously reported, attaining a depth of seven to thirty feet. Yes- 
terday the river began falling. The prospect is not very cheerful, as the smell 
of rank vegetation is very perceptible. It is feared that sickness to an un- 
usual extent will prevail. Two hundred families were compelled to move 
from their homes, situated for the most part in the valley east of town, and 
partly in the furnace village of Irontown, a mile up the railroad. 


(Indianapolis Journal, Saturday, July 31, 1875.) 


THE FLoops or 1828 anp 1847.—The flood of 1828, which old settlers 
considered the highest ever known, washed a region wholly destitute of popu- 
lation and production, and the injury was comparatively light, although 
serious enough, we believe, to induce the legislature to remit the taxes or 
to extend payment on the inundated lands. The flood of 1847, it will be re- 
membered by the older class of citizens, came nearly up to the flood of 1828, 
but not quite. But even at the later period, White River Valley did not 
contain more than one-fifth of the population that it does now, and only a 
little more than one-fifth of the wealth, as is shown in the comparative tables 
of the census, and the recent estimates of the Board of Equalization. The 
inundation, therefore, though larger than the present one by two or three 
feet, could not have done more than a small proportion of the harm done by 
the recent flood. 


(Special to the Indianapolis Journal.) 


WorTHINGTON, IND., August 5, 1875.—As the flood is the only thing talked 
about in this locality, I have concluded to furnish you a few items in regard 
to it. It was the highest and the most disastrous freshet ever witnessed by 
the oldest inhabitants. It was twelve inches higher than it was during the 
memorable flood of January, 1847, on White River and Eel River. Our town 
has been situated on an island for four days, the water being from six to sixty 
feet in depth in all directions. Work is suspended. All corn and wheat on 
White River bottom, in Greene County, for a distance of twenty-five miles 
have been swept away and nothing has been saved. In addition to all of this, 
all of the fencing has gone down the river with the products of the soil. The 
crop on the prairies is a total failure, due to the wet weather. It has been 
estimated that the damage in this county alone to the crops, and by the loss 
of fencing, lumber, etc., will amount to $300,000. 


Or 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 20 


PART III.—FLOOD QUESTIONS 
INCREASE OF FLOODS 


Are floods increasing, and if so, why? Leighton, in ‘Water 
Supply Papers No. 234,’ answers the question with a very emphatic 
affirmative. He bases his statements on the results of observa- 
tions extended from 1875 to 1907, upon the Ohio River, the Alle- 
gheny River, the Monongahela River, the Youghiogheny River, 
the Wateree River, the Savannah River, the Alabama River, and 
the Connecticut River. 

In the region studied, he gave the cause of floods and the cause 
of the increase of floods as follows: 


1. Chmate (including rainfall, evaporation, temperature, 
wind and humidity.) 


2. ‘Topography. 

3. Geology. 

4. Vegetation. (Deforestation, growing crops, etc.) 

5. Artificial agencies (including breaking of dams, drain- 


age, etc.). 


He says, ‘Summarily, therefore, it may be stated with confi- 
dence that the increase of flood tendency is due by far the largest 
measure to the denudation of the forest areas.’ 

It seems that, in Indiana, the deforestation of between 80 
and 85 per cent of the total area of the State has had something 
to do with the increase of flood frequency and flood height. This 
is especially true of the southern part of the State, where the slopes 
are more steep and the country more broken. According to F. 
A. Miller and E. E. Davis (‘Eighth Annual Report of the Indiana 
State Board of Forestry,’ 1908), the most noticeable change in the 
activities of the Wabash River due to deforestation is the fact 
that it rises and falls more rapidly now than formerly. In three 
or four days it reaches a height that formerly took two or three 
weeks; however, the fall of the flood crest is now sudden, as the rise. 
Some seem to think that deforestation will cause the rainfall 
to decrease, or, if not decrease, to be distributed more unevenly 
through the year. This has not been satisfactorily proved. How- 
ever, the following discussion will give the reader some idea as to 
the nature of the work that is being done in trying to arrive at 
some definite conclusion. Dr. Raphael Zon in Science (N. S. 
Vol. XX XVIII. No. 968), shows that there is a close relationship 


206 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


between forests and precipitation. He uses the forests and preci- 
pitation of the eastern half of the United States to ulustrate his 
point. 

Dr. Zon starts his discussion by bringing up the fact that 
the eastern half of the United States receives its rainfall from the 
air currents that come from the Gulf of Mexico and the adjoining 
ocean. He then cites the work of the noted European meteorolo- 
gist, Professor Bruckner, who has computed the amount of water 
evaporated from the land surface and the ocean surface, and the 
amount of water that is returned to the land and the ocean in the 
form of precipitation, and who has shown that the regions at the 
periphery of the continents are able to supply seven-ninths of their 
precipitation by evaporation from their own areas. In other words, 
the humidity derived from the ocean is precipitated in a narrow 
strip along the coast and even there consists of only about two- 
ninths of the precipitation falling in those regions. This being 
the case, Dr. Zon suggests that the air currents from the gulf region, 
upon leaving the coast, drop the humidity acquired over the Gulf, 
and, as they pass farther north gather up a new supply of moisture 
which will be precipitated farther on. If it were not for the evap- 
oration taking place on the land, all of the larger continents would 
have large desert regions at their interior. 

Then Dr. Zon cites the results of the researches of Professor 
Henry, in his recent investigations on the effect of forests upon 
ground waters in level country and the work of Dr. Franz R. von 
Hohnel, of the Austrian forest experiment station at Mariabrunn, 
who have shown that a forest area returns a large amount of water 
to the atmosphere. Then Dr. Zon says: ‘The most valuable and 
complete work on the subject is by Otozky, a Russian geologist 
and soil physicist, which appeared as a publication of the forest 
experiment stations. Otozky worked up an enormous amount 
of observations, both his personal and those furnished him by 
other people, and did not find a single contradictory fact. His 
conclusion is that the forest, on account of its excessive transpi- 
ration, consumes more moisture, all other conditions being equal, 
than a similar area bare of vegetation or covered with some herb- 
aceous vegetation.’ 

He continues the discussion as follows: ‘If the present area 
occupied by forests in the-Atlantic plain and the Appalachian 
region were instead occupied by a large body of water, no meteor- 
ologist would hesitate for a moment to admit that the water surface 
has a perceptible influence upon the humidity of the central states 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 207 


and the prairie region. Should not, therefore, forests which give 
off into the atmosphere much larger quantities of moisture than a 
free water surface, have at least a similar influence upon the region 
into which the prevailing air currents flow.’ 

Then follows the interesting studies made by Professors Francis 
EK. Nipher and George A. Lindsay on the rainfall of the State of 
Missouri, and the discharge of the Mississippi River at St. Louis, 
and at Carrollton, Louisiana. To quote from his article: ‘Nipher 
found that the average discharge of the Mississippi River at St. 
Louis during the ten vears ending December 31, 1887, was 190,800 
cubic feet per second. The amount of water falling upon the whole 
state during the same interval was 195,800 cubic feet per second, or 
within two per cent of the discharge of the Mississippi River at 
St. Louis. If, however, a comparision is made between the total 
rainfall on the basin draining past St. Louis, and the river dis- 
charge at that point, it appears that the drainage area of the Mis- 
sissippi and the Missouri Rivers above St. Louis, is 733,120 square 
miles, or over ten times the area of Missouri. These figures show 
that a small portion of the total rainfall over the drainage basin 
of the Mississippi River is led into the rivers and conducted back 
to the sea. It is evident that by far the larger portion of the pre- 
cipitation that falls over the drainage basin is evaporated back from 
the land into the atmosphere, and is not returned to the sea through 
the medium of drainage. These figures show further that the source 
of precipitation of the Mississippi drainage area is from evapo- 
ration over the land and not derived from evaporation over the 
sea. Mr. Lindsay computed the discharge of the Mississippi 
River at Carrollton, Louisiana, and found that the average for 
fourteen years was 117 cubic miles per year, or 545,800 cubic feet 
per second, which is less than three times the precipitation over 
the state of Missouri.’ 

It seems to the writers that forests have something to do with 
the amount and distribution of the rainfall of the Ohio Valley. 
It is impossible to say, how much, until a long series of experiments 
over the entire drainage basin of the Ohio Valley are perfected. 
Owing to the rapid decrease in our forest areas these experiments 
should be carried out as soon as possible, for it takes many vears | 
to replace a forest once it is entirely removed. 

Deforestation in the northern part of this State has had less 
to do with the increase of flood frequency and height than the great 
amount of ditching that has been done in the last forty years. The 
ditching has been of two kinds; first, large open ditches known as 


208 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


dredges, and second, the tile drains that feed the former.: The fol- 
lowing is the amount of tile drains and dredge in three of the northern 
counties: 


Fulton County. In Fulton County there are 75 miles of open 
dredge ditch and an equal number of miles of tile drains, twelve 
inches in diameter or larger. Feeding these dredge ditches and 
larger tile drains there are hundreds of miles of smaller tile drains. 
In fact, this county is underlain with a net-work of small tile drains 
that tend to hurry the rainfall to the larger streams. The im- 
mediate run-off is greatly increased thereby, the flood height is 
increased, and the duration of high water lessened. 


Starke County. A letter from the surveyor of Starke County 
written to the writers will be given, as it explains the situation very 
well. 

Sir: We have about 190 miles of dredge ditch in this county, of which 
135 miles have been completed within the last ten years. We have about 
20 miles under construction and petitions are on file for 50 miles more and the 
Commissioners are acting on 5 miles more. 

There are between 45 and 50 miles of tile drains 10 inches or larger in 
the county. My opinion about the high water is as follows: the trouble 
lays in the poor outlet that we have for our lowland ditches. We have open- 
ed out marshes and lakes into the streams and never once give it another 
thought. When our marshes receive a heavy rain fall the good ditches rush 
the water to the rivers and cause floods, and will do so until we get a final 
outlet or close our ditches to hold the water. 

Yours respectfully, 
Cuas. A. Goon. 


St. Joseph County. In this county there are 110 miles of 
dredge ditch and more than 30 miles of tile drains, that are twelve 
inches in diameter or larger. 

These three counties are a fair average of the northern part 
of the State. North of the Wabash River it is possible to control 
the floods in a large measure, if not altogether. It might be possible 
to put dams across the outlets of the numerous lakes. These 
dams should be equipped with flood gates that could be lowered 
in times of excessive rainfall, thus ponding the water until the 
crest of the flood has passed. Later the flood gates could be opened 
and the lakes lowered to their normal condition. Also a small 
amount of power could be made in this manner. Silt may be col- 
lected that otherwise would be carried to the Gulf. Better still, 
instead of letting the water out of the lakes after the streams have 
carried away the flood waters that could not be controlled, the 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 209 


excess water might be kept stored or ponded and in times of drouth, 
which oecur so often in Indiana, it might be applied to the fields, 
insuring a yield where applied. 

It might be possible to close the tile drains and some of the 
smaller open ditches while there is an excess of rainfall, and, after 
the immediate run-off has escaped, these tile drains could be opened 
again. This would not hinder farming to a great extent and would 
give the water time to soak into the ground instead of being rushed 
off to the rivers. Some sediment might also be kept from being 
varried away. The amount of water that will soak into the soil or 
eround depends on the nature of the soil, the length of time that 
the water is exposed to the soil, and the temperature. That is, 
a light sandy loam or a muck soil will absorb surface water much 
faster than a fine impervious clayey soil. King, of Wisconsin, 
has shown that a clay soil will hold water much longer than the 
sandy soil. 

The great number of various kinds of ditches in Northern 
Indiana carry the water away so rapidly that it does not have time 
to soak into the ground. This also tends to lower the water table, 
thereby making the distance that the water must travel by cap- 
illary attraction greater as it comes to the surface to feed the growing 
plants. Also the greatly reduced forest area permits the water to 
escape more rapidly, less water is absorbed into the ground, the 
immediate run-off is increased, and the flood stages are corres- 
pondingly heightened, while the low water stages are much lower. 
When the ground is frozen it is impossible to control the immediate 
run-off. 

The imperfect records of the Kankakee River show that the 
flood stages are getting higher and that the low water stages are 
getting Icwer and of longer duration. Thirty years ago the ordinary 
low water discharge at the mouth of the Kankakee River was some- 
thing near 1,300 cubic feet per second. As near as the writers are 
able to find out, the low water discharge at the present time is 
less than two-thirds what it was thirty years earlier. 

The rainfall during the last thirty years has not perceptibly 
fallen off nor does it seem to be greater during the winter months 
now than formerly or less during the summer months than thirty 
years earlier. Thus it seems that deforestation, and increase in 
the number of dredge and tile ditches have caused the flood heights 
to be increased and the low water stages to become lower and of 
longer duration. 

The writers are not so sure that there has been a decided in- 


210 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


crease in flood frequency in the Ohio Valley during the last forty 
years. For instance, Professor Alfred J. Henry (Bulletin ‘Z’ of 
the United States Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau) has 
shown that by taking the severe floods of the last forty years, on 
the Ohio River, there were 19 severe floods during the first 20 years, 
and 32 during the last 20 years, ending 1910. Now if the last 30 
years are divided inte two equal periods and the first 15 vears 
compared with the last 15 years the order of irequency is reversed. 
The following table taken from ‘Bulletin Z’ of the Weather Bureau 
Publications shows the above in tabuiar form: 


TABLE No. 6. 











First period |Second period| First period Second 
STATIONS. of 20 years, of 20 years, of 15 years, period 
1870-1890. 1891-1910. 1881-1895. 1896-1910. 
Pitiebureye se 2 9 3 8 
Cinceinnati...... 6 ‘i 8 5 
Louisvilles..o4c 5 5 7 3 
Evansville....... 6 11 8 9 
ota leer ee ar, 19 Sy 26 25 




















It is a fact that great floods are dependent upon excessive 
rainfall; also it is a fact that deforestation and the increase of arti- 
ficial drainage have a tendency to rush these excessive waters to 
the main streams, causing the height of the flood to become greater 
in a shorter length cf time. Just how much that this will increase 
the height cannot be determined until more data are accumulated, 
showing the discharge of the streams and the amount of precipi- 
tation over large and various areas. Mr. Henry suggests that 
it will take at least 50 years to get together sufficient data to de- 
termine the effect. 


THE LOWERING OF THE WATER TABLE 


It is beginning to be a weil known fact that the water table 
over the entire State is being lowered. This is the case in several 
states scattered over the United States, as in Michigan, Alabama, 
Florida, California, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wash- 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 19138 PALE 


ington. In these states luws have been enacted so as to prevent 
the unnecessary waste of the underground water. The following 
table will show to some extent the amount that the water table 
is being lowered in Indiana. This data was published in the Pro- 
ceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, for 1910, by Mr 
Charles Brossman. 

TABLE No. 6. 














Ciry. Total drop. Years. Feet per year. 
eri tl NIC ee, Ores oe nai sedis Pe ws 48 5 9 4-5 
TENANT eee che das bea he eo 5s 40 12 oe Be 
SPCR UED Seah sp aay eS dog 40 10 4 
MRTOTES aS ta ee DS ape ed eee me eS, ee oe eS 
PREIITTUON bee vee ek ae ee Bo: 8 10 4-5 
USSTT CH eet 0s er eee een en ees ae 6 20 3-10 
SAP Ed ety wok Oa ee a ee 4 10 2-5 
BRIAR Tiemwe ten rey ce Ao rates: | 30 6 5 
PGIONO tate ane en tn > ete 15 15 1 




















These towns are pretty well distributed over the State and are 
a fair representation of the State at large. The last column shows 
the average fall in feet per year. If this is a fair test, it will not 
be very long, possibly it may occur even in this generation, until! 
the water table will be so lowered as to become a very serious matter. 

Mr. F. G. Clapp, of the United States Geological Survey, 
believes that the decline of the water table is due to the following 
causes, named in the order of their importance: 


1. Waste of Water. 

2. Surface drainage by ditching for cultivation. 
3. Over-development of the underground water. 
4. Deforestation. 


The people of the United States do not seem to realize that 
the natural resources of this new country are limited. Resources 
such as coal, oil, gas, timber and water,—especially the first four, 
are the result of many years labor on the part of Nature, and cannot 
be replaced when once exhausted. 

Water, the most abundant of all our natural resources, is 
becoming a luxury, and it behooves the present generation to con- 
sider and start a movement for the conservation of it. In Madison 


PAZ INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


County there are at least 100 flowing wells which average twenty 
gallons per minute. This would make a total of about 1,700,000 
gallons per day, or more than enough water for a city of 30,000 
inhabitants without extensive manufacturing plants. These wells 
could be closed up when not in use. If this water was being used 
it would be permissible, but to let it be wasted is resuiting in mater- 
ially lowering the water table each year. 

The loss of water is not the only offensive thing to be con- 
sidered. Dr. J. W. Beede, of Indiana University, in a paper before 
the Indiana State Board of Health, has shown that old adjust- 
ments are broken as the water table is lowered, thus causing what 
once was good water to become unfit for use. The water that makes 
up the water table is not derived from an inexhaustible source, 
but in a large measure depends upon the immediate rainfall, and 
if this is carried away by an elaborate system of ditches, but little 
water will have a chance to soak into the ground to replenish the 
lowering water table. On the other hand the water is carried away 
at once and helps to increase the height of the flood stage. It 
seems that it is absolutely necessary to drain our cultivated fields, 
but in doing so there should be some way by which we could retain 
the surplus waters and thus permit some of them to return to the 
ground, raising the lowering water table, and, by decreasing the 
immediate run-off, lessen the flood height and intensity. 

Another source of waste of water is the great amount of water 
that is so recklessly used in cities. Ordinarily in a city where 
there is not much manufacturing, 40 gallons per capita per day is 
sufficient for all ordinary needs. As a rule there are many times 
that amount pumped. ‘The following cities all use more than is 
necessary : 


Rochesters.t arte eae ee es 125 gallons per day per capita. 
(osheti a: ox cates we ts eae ie ee eee 150 gallons per day per capita. 
Pettis 7... 0th ee te Ee een ee a eee 100 gallons per day per capita. 
Danville. jus Seago Bee ee 150 gallons per day per capita. 
Lebanon to.co aheser et ie ee 100 gallons per day per capita. 
Washington} see cn nvioee tee oe we ee 125 gallons per day per capita. 


These data were taken and compiled by Mr. Charles Brossman, 
of Indianapolis; they give a fair idea of the use of water by the 
towns and cities over the State; and if the statement made by 
Mr. Clapp, that for the ordinary city forty gallons per capita per 
day is sufficient, is true, they show that there is a great amount 
of water wasted every day that might as well be left in the ground. 
This loss or misuse of water could be remedied by the installation 
of a sufficient number of meters. Of the 144 towns and cities in 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 Als 


Indiana studied by Brossman, only fourteen had more than 300 
meters, 13 between 100 and 300, 51 below 100 meters, and 66 were 
without meters at all. Thus less than ten per cent of the cities 
studied had sufficient meters to regulate the amount of water used. 
In Bloomington, where the municipal water supply is limited, 
there are very few meters. 

The lowering of the water table at Chicago is due to over- 
development, and cannot be remedied. In 1864, the water in 
the flowing wells stood 111 feet above the level of Lake Michigan, 
but at the present time it is fifteen or twenty feet below the ground. 

The fourth and last factor concerned in the lowering of the 
water table is deforestation. This factor has been dealt with to a 
certain extent earlier in the report but it is well to emphasize the 
results of deforestation by citing an illustration taken from the 
‘Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey,’ 
Barter our: 


‘Queens creek of Arizona is a typical stream in a barren treeless water 
shed which has a rain fall of about fifteen inches per year. The area of this 
water shed is about 143 square miles and 61 per cent of it is above 3,000 feet. 
The maximum flood discharge in 1896, was 9,000 cubic feet per second. During 
a greater portion of the time the creek was dry. In this case there was very 
little chance for the water to soak into the ground. 

‘Cedar creek, in Washington, is typical of streams flowing from tim- 
bered water sheds. The basin of Cedar creek lies on the western slope of 
the Cascade mountains, and is covered with a dense forest and a very heavy 
undergrowth of ferns and mosses. The drainage is the same as that of Queens 
creek, 143 square miles. The precipitation for the year 1897, was 93 inches 
for the lower portion of the basin and probably 150 inches for the mountain 
summits; in spite of the fact that the precipitation in Cedar Creek basin was 
from six to nine times more than that in Queens creek basin, the maximum 
flood discharge of Cedar creek for 1897, was but 3,601 cubic feet per second, 
as against the 9,000 cubic feet for Queens creek. On the other hand the flow 
of Cedar creek was continuous through the year, and the minimum discharge 
was never less than 27 per cent of the mean for the year. The mean discharge 
of Cedar creek was 1,089 cubic feet, as against 15 cubic feet for Queens creek. 
This radical difference between the behavior of the two streams can be ex- 
plained only by the difference in the soil covering of the two basins. Cedar 
creek basin is covered with a heavy forest, while Queens creek is almost en- 
tirely bare with a few scattered pinyon trees and a little brash or grass. 


This illustration shows the intimate relation that exists between - 
the process of deforestation and the control of our flood waters. 
It also shows an evident cause of the lowering of the water table in 
this and other states. This is a practical demonstration and should 
carry considerable weight in the determination of our attitude 
toward the question of flood control. 


214 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


CONTROL OF FLOODS IN CHINA, JAPAN, AND KOREA 


The following discussion is based upon F. H. King’s ‘Farmers 
of Forty Centuries.’ 

The people of China, Japan, and Korea are farming land that 
has been in service almost 4,000 years and there are only two acres 
per capita, half of which is unfarmable. The question of sufficient 
room for the masses of the people has been a serious proposition 
for over 4,000 years. Over 4,100 years ago, Emperor Yao appointed 
‘The Great Yu,’ ‘Superintendent of Works,’ and entrusted him 
with the work of draining off the waters of the disastrous floods 
and of canalizing the rivers. He worked at this for thirteen years, 
after which he was called to be Emperor. This man saw the need 
of some definite line of procedure for the conservation of the vast 
amount of sediment that was yearly being lost by the great rivers, 
Howang Ho, Yangste Kiang, and the Canton. He realized that 
the flood waters should be shut off from the precious farm land. 
As a result this man started a system of canals to be filled with 
the flood waters, which form today a network of water ways, all 
over the delta region. A conservative estimate would place the 
number of miles of canals and leveed rivers in China, Japan and 
Korea at 200,000 in all. That is, forty canals across the United 
States from east to west, and sixty from north to south would not 
equal in number of miles those of the three countries today. King 
goes on to say that this estimate is possibly not too large for China 
alone. 

These canals are about eight feet below the level of the sur- 
rounding fields and are about twenty feet in width. In times of 
high water these canals are permitted to fill up and when the water 
in the main stream goes down the water is drawn from the canals. 
While the water stands in the canals the sediment is deposited in 
the bottom and after the canals are drained this sediment is car- 
ried by hand and spread over the surrounding fields. This not 
only enriches the fields but builds them up a little higher each 
time, getting them a little farther from the danger of following 
floods. As much as an inch of this mud is spread over the fields at 
a time. This transfer of mud is done by human labor altogether. 

To quote from King’s, ‘Farmers of Forty Centuries,’ concern- 
ing other processes in conjunction with the canals: ‘As adjuncts 
to these vast canalization works there have been enormous amounts 
of embankment, dike and levee construction. . . . Along the 
banks of the Yangtse, and for many miles along the Hoang Ho, 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 DD 


great levees have been built, sometimes in reinforcing series of two 
or three at different distances back from the channel where the 
stream bed is above the adjacent country, in order to prevent the 
widespread disaster and to limit the inundated areas in times of 
unusual floods. Again, in the Canton delta there are hundreds of 
miles of sea wall and dikes, so that the aggregate mileage of construc- 
tion work in the Empire can only be measured in the thousands of 
miles. . . . In addition to the canal and levee construction 
works there are numerous impounding reservoirs which are brought 
into requisition to control overflow waters from the great streams. 
Some of these reservoirs, like the T'ungting Lake in Hupeh and Po- 
yang in Hunan, have areas of 2,000 and 1,800 square miles respectively 
and during the heaviest rainy seasons each may rise through twenty 
or thirty feet. Then there are other large and smaller lakes in the 
coastal plains giving an aggregate reservoir area exceeding 138,000 
square miles. All of which are brought into service in controiling 
the flood waters, all of which are steadily being filled with the sedi- 
ments brought from the far-away uncultivated mountain slopes, 
and which are ultimately destined to become rich alluvial plains, 
doubtless to be canalized in the manner that we have seen.’ 

King also shows how by the process of building up the low 
swamp land with sediment that is deposited in the reservoirs and 
in the canals that the land has been pushed out into the sea. By 
this process, the shore has been pushed seaward from 15 to 50 miles 
since the beginning of the Christian era. 

He sums up the effect of these processes that we have been 
considering in the following words; ‘Besides these actual extensions 
of the shore lines the centuries of flooding of the lakes and low 
lying lands has so filled many depressions as to convert large areas 
of swamp into cultivated fields. Not only this, but the spreading 
of the canal mud broadeast over the encircling fields has had two 
very important effects namely, raising the level cf the low lying 
fields, giving them better drainage and so better physical condi- 
tions, and adding new plant food in the form of virgin soil of the 
richest type, thus contributing to the maintenance of soil fertility, 
high maintenance capacity and permanent agriculture through all 
the centuries.’ 

In the United States, along the same lines, now that we are 
considering the development of inland water ways, the subject 
should be surveyed broadly and much careful study may well be 
given to the works these old people have developed and found 
serviceable through so many centuries. The Mississippi River is 


216 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


annually bearing to the sea nearly 225,000 acre feet of the most 
fertile sediment, and between levees along a raised river bed through 
two hundred miles of country subject to inundation. The time is 
here when there should be undertaken a systematic diversion of a 
large part of this fertile soil over the swamp areas, building them 
into well drained, fertile fields provided with water ways to serve 
for drainage, irrigation, fertilization and transportation. These 
great areas of swamp land may thus be converted into the most 
productive rice and sugar plantations to be found anywhere in the 
world, and the area made capable of maintaining many millions of 
people as long as the Mississippi endures, bearing its burden of 
fertile sediment. 

This bears a close relation to the flood situation in Indiana, 
for any solution of the flood conditions here must begin at the 
mouth of the Mississippi River and then embrace each of the trib- 
utaries. It is almost useless to try to protect different places along 
a stream even as small as White River. Suppose that we make 
the whole of White River an idea! stream, one that will carry away 
all of the excess waters rapidly enough to keep the flocd plain from 
being inundated: railroad grades, public road grades, and bridges 
to be so constructed that the water would be permitted free passage 
and not impounded in the least: the channel made large enough to 
carry an amount of water equal to that of the March flood. What 
would be the result of such an improvement? The result is easily 
comprehended: the water will be dumped into the Wabash River in 
such a short time as to cause it to assume flood conditions at once 
and the damage will be greater than before the improvement of 
White River. The region of flood damage would be shifted down 
stream to the Wabash, where the height of the flood would be 
ereatly increased. The people of the White River Valley would 
have simply put their troubles and losses on the people below. 

It seems impracticable to try to provide a channel large enough 
to carry the amount of water that came down White River last 
March. Improvements on the channel would help to take care of 
the ordinary flood. That is the phase that we wish to guard against 
first, and then try to cope with floods of the proportions of the 
recent one. 


A BrieF CONSIDERATION OF RESERVOIRS 


The effect of natural reservoirs upon the discharge of streams 
is shown in a striking manner in the Niagara River. The stream 
flow here is very constant, the maximum heing only 35 per cent 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 vd bi 


greater than the minimum discharge. According to Van Hise, the 
maximum flow of the St. Lawrence River is only 50 per cent greater 
than the minimum flow. Considering the size of these rivers, that 
is a remarkable record. The Kankakee River, which is fed by 
numerous lakes and swamps, has a rather constant flow, but this 
equilibrium is being wrought out of adjustment by the draining of 
a large portion of the swamp land during the last few years. The 
effectiveness of reservoirs and Jakes in making the flow or discharge 
of a stream constant cannot be overestimated. 

Where the relief and geologic structure permit, artificial reser- 
voirs may be constructed in such a way as to hold back a large 
percentage of the excess rainfall. Much of the unglaciated part of 
the State is of such a nature. The surplus may be used for irriga- 
tion and the production of power in small plants. The power that 
is developed may be used to lift a part of the water up to the level 
of the fields that are to be irrigated. The needs and benefits of 
irrigation in a humid region are being realized today. 

Mr. W. W. Roebuck, of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, at the National 
Irrigation Congress at Chicago, December 4-9, 1911, said, ‘I know 
of an irrigated farm of eighty acres, and there is not more than 
half of this farm, or there is less than half of this farm that has 
been cultivated annually, and the products have been over $15,000 
annually. It is a demonstrated fact that we can grow more than 
double, take it one year for another, by irrigation.’ 

There is sufficient rainfall in Indiana. However, it does not 
always come at the time needed to produce maximum crops. Three 
weeks without a rain will often damage a crop fifty per cent, while 
water applied at the proper time would insure a maximum yield. 
If it were possible to hold back the surplus waters in times of ex- 
cessive rainfall, in reservoirs, it could be made to serve a two-fold 
purpose: it would furnish water for irrigation and at the same time 
keep the flood stages lower. 

In Monroe County there are several places where dams may be 
constructed where the water may be used either for municipal 
water supply or for irrigation. Bloomington may secure an ample 
supply of water by putting a dam across Griffy Creek, just above 
the North Pike bridge. The excess water of seven square miles 
may in this way be made useful instead of a menace to life and 
property, since it, as a contributing factor, causes White River to 
assume flood stages. Below this dam would be several hundred 
acres of land that could be made to produce in an unfailing manner. 
The lack of topographic maps makes it difficult to construct such 


8—1424 


218 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


reservoirs economically. Properly planned, such reservoirs would 
pay for themselves by furnishing water for irrigation and at the 
same time help to reduce the flood stages, and keep the water table - 
from getting any lower. 

It is conceded that no system of reservoirs would have been 
ample to have prevented the recent fiood, or even to have mitigated 
it perceptibly. The truth of this statement is clearly brought out 
when one considers the enormous amount of water which fell. The 
following figures will make this clear; they concern the White 
River basin alone. The water which fell would cover: 

7,626 square miles of territory 1 foot deep. 

763 square miles of territory 10 feet deep. 
305 square miles of territory 25 feet deep. 
152% square miles of territory 50 feet deep. 

7614 square miles of territory 100 feet deep. 


Or, from another point of view,— 
4,860,640 acres 1 foot deep. 
487,064 acres 10 feet deep. 
194,826 acres 25 feet deep. 
07,418 acres 50 feet deep. 
48,706 acres 100 feet deep. 
Or, from another point of view,— 
10 acres to every square mile 44 feet deep. 
20 acres to every square mile 22 feet deep. 
40 acres to every square mile 11 feet dcecp. 
Or, from another point of view,— 
11 acres to every 160 acres 10 feet deep. 


51% acres to every 80 acres 10 feet deer. 





Or, from stil! another point of view, 
1-15 of any area 10 feet deep. 


These figures, based on U. S. Weather Bulletins. show that a 
system of reservoirs would have had to have been verv elaborate 
indeed to have had any influence upon such a flood as the recent 
one. It seems to the writers that any reservoir system proposed 
for the White River region for the mitigation of damage due to 
floods alone, when the enormous cost is considered, ‘s impracti- 
cable. As a side issue only, artificial reservoirs may be thought of 
in connection with floods in this region. 

If we eliminate the reservoir idea, the question of protection 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 219 


to our cities and towns is still before us. The writers are scarcely 
willing to venture any proposal, not having given this phase of 
floods more than passing notice. But it seems that the one prac- 
tical thing for the present is to build strong Jevees sufficiently high 
to prevent the possibility of the waters getting over them into the 
towns and cities. A study of the situation will very likely prove 
this propositicn not only practical, but a necessity, if any precau- 
tions are to be taken at all. 


220 INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


PART IV. SUMMARY OF FACTS AND CONCLUSIONS 


1. Excessive rainfall was the only cause of the flood. 

2. The excessive rainfall was due to two areas of high pressure, 
one over the Bermuda Islands and the other over Hastern Canada, 
remaining stationary from Mareh 22nd to March 27th, hoiding 
hack the two storms, causing them to spend their energy over the 
Ohio Valley for five days. 

3. There was an average of 10.53 inches of rainfall at twenty 
weather bureau stations, in the White River drainage basin. 

4. Only 2.43 inches of rain fell during the first twenty-two 
days of March. 

5. An average of 8.28 inches of rain fel! between March 22-28. 

6. Within twenty-four hours 56.6 per cent. of the precipita- 
tion fell that caused the flood, or an average of 4.46 inches for the 
entire drainage basin. 

7. Floods in the Ohio Valley are generally caused by heavy 
rainfall, melting of heavy snow, ice jams, failure of reservoirs, and 
the breaking of levees. ‘The latter four factors generally act in 
conjunction with the excessive rainfall. 

8. According to Leighton, floods in the Eastern part of the 
United States are increasing, and that the main cause for the in- 
crease is deforestation. However, in the White River valley, the 


writers think that the enormous increase of artificial drainage 


should be added to deforestation. 

9. The water table of large parts of the State is being lowered 
by the increase of artificial drainage, deforestation, the waste of 
water by cities, and the general waste of water, as at abandoned oil 
wells. 

10. Many lakes in the northern part of the State could be 
equipped with flood gates at their outlets, thus holding back much 
of the excess rainfall, permitting it to be carried away after the 
crest of the flood has passed. This would partly restore the water 
table. This would be practical for the upper Wabash region. 

11. If meters were installed to regulate the amount of water 
used in cities the waste would be reduced almost one-half. 

12. Mr. Charles Brossman has shown that only 10 per cent of 
the cities of Indiana have a sufficient number of meters to regulate 
the amount of water used. 

13. <A close study of Cedar Creek in the State of Washington, 
and Queens Creek in the State of Arizona, shows that deforestation 


PX 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 221 


increases the immediate run-off, makes the flood stages higher, 
and the low water stages lower. 

14. Deforestation causes an increase of soil erosion. 

15. Natural reservoirs on large streams tend to make the flow 
constant. 

16. Where relief and geologic structure permit, artificial 
reservoirs may be constructed, holding back part of the flood waters 
which may be used for municipal supply, power and local irrigation. 

17. Itisa demonstrated fact that irrigation in a humid elimate 
will greatly increase the crops and guard against drouth. 

18. Along much of its course White River flows two miles 
to get one. in many places a two-mile stretch of river could be 
reduced to less than a mile by making a cut-off. 

19. In many cases a series of dynamite charges could be used 
to open up the new channel instead of the expensive method of 
dredging. 

20. Shortening the course increases the fall, which will be 
distributed up and down the channel. 

21. By doubling the velocity, the transporting power is in- 
creased sixty-four times. 

22. As soon as the water spreads out over the banks it takes 
a more direct course, thus having its velocity increased. However, 
the friction is greater and tends to check the current. 

23. A meander increases in size up to a certain stage and then 
the current which has been cutting on either side of the neck meets 
and a cut-off is perfected. 

24. A cut-off generally throws the current to the opposite 
side of the stream, thus starting a new meander. 

25. Stumps, trees, hay stacks, posts, and buildings on the 
flood plain may cause the current to cut holes. 

26. Under the top soil which is from one to ten fect in depth 
is a layer of sand and gravel, which is easily moved by running water, 
causing the top soil to cave or fall in. 

27. This gravel and sand shows that the stream has been 
shifting back and forth across the valley for a long time. 

28. These beds of sand and gravel were formerly sand and gravel 
bars and in many cases show the structure. 

29. Sand and gravel were deposited in areas up to 80 or 100 
acres, and from a few inches up to ten feet in depth. 

30, As arule this sand was deposited upon good farming land. 

31. Silt was deposited at the junction of the two forks in 
greater quantities than elsewhere. The next largest area of silt 


had INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 


deposition was at the mouth of the Muscatatuck, on the East 
Fork. 

32. On the West Fork the loss from bank cutting must be 
as much as 100 acres per year and may be three or four times that 
amount, but not less. 

33. There was at least 7,850 acres denuded, 160 acres lost 
by bank cutting, 1,520 acres badly covered with sand and gravel, 
and 15,600 acres covered with silt. 

34. By using the statements of possibly a hundred farmers 
as to how much each-of these different factors damaged the land, 
the estimate damage to soil alone was placed at $246,500. The 
total cost of replacing the structure damaged and destroyed is esti- 
mated at $498,998. 

35. When the upper portion of the drainage basin has been 
deforested, the sediment that is derived from it and deposited on 
the flood plain is not so productive as it was before the removal 
of the forest. 

36. China uses the sediment of her great rivers to build up the 
low ground near the delta region, thus reclaiming many hundreds 
of square miles for agriculture. 

37. A great amount of the flood water is diverted by a system 
of canals into the low lying land where much sediment is deposited 
in the bottom of the canals and is later carried out upon the nearby 
fields, both enriching and building them up above the danger point 
of future floods. 

38. Considerable bottom land of the tower Mississippi River 
could be reclaimed in this manner. 

39. Railroad bridges are generally too small and restrict the 
flow of water. 

40. The railroads that crossed the valley on_ trestle-work 
were not damaged. 

41. Where a bridge or part of a railroad grade was washed 
out the railroad companies have not imereased the length of 
trestle-work, but have rebuilt the grade. 

42. Bank cutting is not limited to times of excessive floods, 
and can be prevented by the planting of trees, riprap, and jetties. 

43. In the stretch of river studied the greatest loss was due 
to soil wash. 

44. There has been no attempt to conserve the great amount 
of sediment that is being carried to the ocean. 

45. The flood occurred at a time of year when there was a 
minimum xmount of damage to the growing crops. 


BYBEE-MALOTT: THE FLOOD OF 1913 223 


46. The flood of August, 1875, did more damage to the growing 
crops. 

47. The flood of 1875 and the recent March flood were about 
the same ‘n height. 

48. The Mississippi River has been brought under contro! 
to a iarge extent by a system of levees. 

49. No practical system of levees could have held White 
River within its banks. 

50. At Romona, where the bluffs act as levees, the water was 
twenty to thirtv feet in depth over the flood plain. 

51. Groundhogs are the chief enemies of the levees on White 
River. 

52. The valley is wide where it passes through the region of 
shales and is narrow in the lmestone region. 

53. Where the valley is widc the water spread out and killed 
much wheat. Where it is narrow, much damage was done by the 
erosive power of the currents. 

54. <Asarule, in the parts of the cities that were flooded there 
was less disease than at any corresponding time before. They 
cleaned up. 





Au ~ - 





VLAN 


3 0112 098989756 





